Oldal 295 [295]
OCR
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 purchased, 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 detraction 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. Oldfashioned 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 [180]
