Oldal 295 [295]
Gay mez. ORD
— ee i SS aaa — —— — — = =
Hisrornic ‘GARDENS... OFLA V TRGIN LA
and is now used as a picturesque water tower with the farm bell
hanging midway. At its base is a great bed of red-stemmed mint—
that pungent herb reminiscent of bygone joys when the making of
a mint-julep was not a lost art.
With keen appreciation of the architectural beauty and value of
the place, Hampstead was bought by William J. Wallace, in 1903,
and restored without changing the original design. When pur¬
chased, practically all of the flowering shrubs had been removed
from the lawn as, after falling into alien hands, the old place had
been much abused. There were large gaps in the boxwood circle
and hedges, made by the stock which was permitted to wander at
will. Pigs had been running wild in the area, much to the detrac¬
tion of both lawn and shrubbery. Even the great house had been
commandeered to serve them, one enterprising tenant having built
a trough to run out of the north drawing-room window as an easy
means of disposing of garbage, or feeding the pigs from grain
stored in some of the second-floor rooms.
It has been the policy of the present owners to work from the
house outwards, replanting shrubs and flowers in the immediate
surroundings—at the base of the house; by the steps; in front of
the old-fashioned ice-house; around the little office on the lawn
and in other places of that kind before completing the restoration
of the wonderful old terraced garden. In this day of scarce and
incompetent labor, this garden seems more a memory of what it
was, though the original terraces themselves are still intact.
But to the lover of old-fashioned flowers, the peculiar charm
of the terraced garden will be most striking. It lies to the west of
the house beyond the shade of the lawn trees. The deeply-sodded
terraces have endured the waste of years, and overhanging them
are large crepe-myrtle trees in pale-pink, lavender, and cerise. Old¬
fashioned jonquils are there—iris, narcissi, peonies, and the
Star of Bethlehem. Cherokee roses run riot and the little yellow
Scotch or Harrison rose has found there a most congenial soil.
For those loving the memory of the years long gone, old songs
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