File:American homes and gardens (1905) (17531133503).jpg

Title: American homes and gardens
Identifier: americanhomesgar00newy (find matches)
Year: 1905 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Architecture, Domestic; Landscape gardening
Publisher: New York, Munn and Co
Contributing Library: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden
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Text Appearing Before Image:
PON stepping from the train to the little stone station at Riverdale, which is placed on the shores of. the Hudson River, a wind- ing roadway, well shaded by many beautiful trees, lands one on top of the bluff, from which the entrance to Mr. Kingsley's estate is reached. The entrance is bounded by an ornamental iron gateway, which is supported 011 massive brick posts sur- mounted with dressed stone caps, and which are placed at either side of the opening to the estate. Upon entering the grounds a pleasant view greets the eye, with its attractive garden, its sun-dial, its grassed walks, its growing and blooming plants and its pergolas. with a short flight of stone steps one finds himself on the sec- ond grassed terrace, which is made possible by the massive stone wall surmounted with its massive balustrade, beyond which is the Hudson River and yonder the Palisades. To the left of the entrance there is a covered porch, which has a roof supported on Colonial columns. A double row of these columns extends in a line from this piazza to a dis- tance of two hundred feet, forming a pergola, on which are twined many growing vines. At the end of this pergola is a brick wall, in the face of which is pierced a wall fountain. forming an ornamental feature. The grounds and gardens of the entire estate have been very carefully laid out by Mr. Charles W. Leavett, the well
Text Appearing After Image:
The Lower Grassed Terrace in Front of the House Overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades The roadway, which is carefully graded and graveled, leads from the gateway to the right, skirting along the garden, till one is landed beneath the porte-cochere in front of the house; this driveway passes around a circle and then on to the stable. This estate is not a large one as country estates go, but it comprises three acres of land, each bit of which has been so well developed that no part is wasted. The piazza is placed on the west side of the house, thereby isolating it from the intrusion of any one who might ap- proach the front door, and, at the same time, presenting it with a position which affords beautiful vistas of land and water. From this piazza the grassed terrace is reached, and known landscape architect. The site chosen for the house is a happy one, for it is well studded with many beautiful trees of various kinds, which lend themselves to a successful treatment of the grounds as a whole; nature having done much in the creation of the site, and Mr. Leavett in the beautifying of what nature had placed into his hands. The house is built on the elongated plan, with a large central wing, with two smaller ones attached to either end of the house. It is designed and built throughout the interior and exterior in the Colonial style. The foundation walls are built of stone up to the water-table, above which the build- ing is of frame construction; the exterior walls being covered with shingles, which are stained, while the trimmings are

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