DOI Heft:
Nr. 120 (March 1903)
DOI Artikel:Maule, Hugh P. G.: Some notes on suburban house and garden
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19878#0116
A Suburban House and Garden
gardens, and introduced so much that was abso- desire to make the best use of limited ground-
lutely meaningless and false. space, to provide efficient shelter, and to make
Now that this aberration is seen in its true the garden as secluded as possible; not forgetting
perspective, the pendulum is at length swinging also the modern importance of the garden as the
back, and the banalities of the nature and land- playground, and what should be almost the chief
scape school are giving place to a truer apprecia-
tion of the fact that the design and construction of
a garden is indeed art, and that of a very distinct
and especial kind; but it must not be forgotten
that the conditions of modern life have changed
and are radically different from those which brought
about the development of old gardens. A glimpse
beneath the mere surface of things will, however,
convince us that even if the old requirements are
no longer present, there are others quite as im- and the same underlying principles hold good. It
portant, which, if treated upon the broad lines of is only the materials which are different, and which,
utility, or looked at from the more scientific point therefore, need blending and treating with a true
of view of education, both ethical and artistic, will knowledge of their properties and a real insight
supply all the data required for the complete into the modern limitations which govern their
development and unification of a modern house being.
and garden as one indivisible unit, forming the Mr. Mitchell's garden may be said to be a
centre from which our lives should gradually garden in compartments, each part having its
expand. definite use and effect. The whole has been
In small gardens, such as the one under con- conceived in the right spirit, meeting frankly his
sideration, we are not hampered by more than the particular needs, and making just that perfect
"THE ORCHARD," HARROW : THE DRAWING-ROOM FIRE-PLACE ARNOLD MITCHELL, ARCHITECT
IO4
educational influence of young minds :—
'' And is there any moral shut
Within the bosom of the rose?
But any man that walks the mead,
In bud or blade, or bloom, may find,
According as his humours lead,
A meaning suited to his mind."
The garden is, in fact, the extension of all that
belongs to the house, but carried one step further,
gardens, and introduced so much that was abso- desire to make the best use of limited ground-
lutely meaningless and false. space, to provide efficient shelter, and to make
Now that this aberration is seen in its true the garden as secluded as possible; not forgetting
perspective, the pendulum is at length swinging also the modern importance of the garden as the
back, and the banalities of the nature and land- playground, and what should be almost the chief
scape school are giving place to a truer apprecia-
tion of the fact that the design and construction of
a garden is indeed art, and that of a very distinct
and especial kind; but it must not be forgotten
that the conditions of modern life have changed
and are radically different from those which brought
about the development of old gardens. A glimpse
beneath the mere surface of things will, however,
convince us that even if the old requirements are
no longer present, there are others quite as im- and the same underlying principles hold good. It
portant, which, if treated upon the broad lines of is only the materials which are different, and which,
utility, or looked at from the more scientific point therefore, need blending and treating with a true
of view of education, both ethical and artistic, will knowledge of their properties and a real insight
supply all the data required for the complete into the modern limitations which govern their
development and unification of a modern house being.
and garden as one indivisible unit, forming the Mr. Mitchell's garden may be said to be a
centre from which our lives should gradually garden in compartments, each part having its
expand. definite use and effect. The whole has been
In small gardens, such as the one under con- conceived in the right spirit, meeting frankly his
sideration, we are not hampered by more than the particular needs, and making just that perfect
"THE ORCHARD," HARROW : THE DRAWING-ROOM FIRE-PLACE ARNOLD MITCHELL, ARCHITECT
IO4
educational influence of young minds :—
'' And is there any moral shut
Within the bosom of the rose?
But any man that walks the mead,
In bud or blade, or bloom, may find,
According as his humours lead,
A meaning suited to his mind."
The garden is, in fact, the extension of all that
belongs to the house, but carried one step further,