International studio (59.1916)

The House of Mr. George B. Post cit Bernardsville, N. J.


ANOTHER VIEW OF THE GROUNDS

We are attracted to the arrangement of the
principal rooms. The plan is excellent. The twin
gables inspire, as do the many-mullioned windows
and oriels, the dormers and exalted chimneys, the
battlemented coping and buttresses. The service
wing is important and so is the length of the ter-
race line with its accompanying steps to the lower
levels made prominent by the topiary garden and
well-placed cedars.
The broad borders of this informal court, or
dream garden, as it might well be termed, is sin-
gularly attractive because of its position on the
westerly side of the extended grove. Its herba-
ceous border, with German and Japanese iris
backed by peonies, weeping cherry and laburnum,
is excellent. The element of stateliness, a subtle
tribute to the house, is ingratiatingly added to
the scheme by its serious line and proportion, its
quaint pavement, the little semi-circular exedra
accenting the lower wall and its circular lily pool,
which centres the house and terrace composition.
In many other respects this view interests be-
cause of the stillness of the air, the shelter of the
trees, and the fact that the light filtering through
the woods gives a translucent quality which adds

a splendid value to the flowers and the rest of it.
Mist from the valley seems to lodge within these
broad borders and enhance in many ways the
attraction of the picture. It transmits a rare
quality to the dignified cedars and brings into
prominence the masses of old-fashioned flowers.
It contrasts with the delicate colouring of the
larkspur, which here is blue and silver in tone,
and with the rich red hollyhock, the stately fox-
glove and canterbury bells. It also adds in a
manner peculiarly its own a mystic veiling to the
hemlocks and spruce, the box and bay trees.
Mist adds to the web of the spider, so frequent
in the thick foliage of the evergreen, the addi-
tional delight of a thousand tiny dew drops. It
is an added charm to the topiary garden. In
this but little understood phase of serious gar-
dening, Mr. Post’s property resembles somewhat
Levens Court and Haddon Hall, England, and
Naumkeag of our own beloved Massachusetts,
with their grotesquely trimmed yew-tree darlings,
resembling Dutch dolls without arms and with a
thousand skirts. This garden among the fogs and
mountain mists, wonderful views and social
glamour of Bernardsville, contributes to the

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