The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-09-09

old time Lenox. yet still village. Grand
establishments spring up there By magic
the magic OF money and culture. II Is
sometimes limited that the culture is paid
for What il il is? Experts who devote
their lives to perfecting the esthetic
sense in whatever direction It may be.
are worthy OF their hire. 1t takes a cul-
tivated person to realize that skilled de-
signers and artisans are alone to be
trusted in the execution of ones indiyid-
ual plans.
It is sometimes limited that these Le-
nox people have no minds of their own
and that they are the slaves of the ar
tist-architect. glance at the summer
homes here is all that is necessary to
refute any such insinuation. One ac-
quainted with the owners of these estates
and familiar with their individual tastes
could not but recognize each place in
the most casual walk over the grounds,
so indelibly stamped on everything is the
personality of the occupant. 1t shows in
all things from the landscape gardening
to the plumbing.
Wheeling up the hill beyond Lee and
crossing a field on a convenient path. we
came upon a magnificent view OF Laurel
Lake and the hills beyond and the crest of
"OId Saddleback," as Greylock is famil-
iarly called because its two intersecting
peaks make a clearly-defined saddls
against the sky. Wonderfully beautiful
were these clean farms, with wine glass
elms" and forests as sweet as Arden
estates velvety green and beautiful like
Richmond Hill as one looks down upon II
from the Star and Garter" at Kingston
on-the-Thames. On a hill against the
sky, wide spreading and compact, is the
new home of Mr.. John Stone. This fine
country house has been built since my
lett par lrGhf al haU fhnSp
OF Mr. Foster and Mr.. Westinghouse, all
splendid and notable additions to the ar
chitecturaI features of Lenox. The Foster
place is conspicuous. for, on fine bit OF
ground, it oyerlooks Laurel Lake and is
consequently in plain sight to an OBJ
server on the south side. The Foster
House, two miles away as a bird flies,
seems at that distance to be an exact
counterpart of the north front of :he
Executive Mansion in Washington. 1t Is,
however, a house of pale yellow brick ex-
tensively trimmed with white marble. To
this latter fact and its similarity IL form
is due its marked resemblance to the
White House. Near at hand to the left,
on a magnificent lawn, close and clean
as an administer carpet, is the Westlns-
house country house. More than any other
of the many fine places in sight does this
seem appropriate, for il is of wood and dis
tinctly a summer home. White and beau
tiful, il rests 0 that hill against the blue
sky like one @. the noblest of the White
SQuadron-thc Massachusetts herself
might rest on the crest of a green wave
in a summer sea. The smile does not
end there, for all the roads on the West
inghouse estate are of crushed marble
and. from the house, as they wind grace
fully away, they are like ocean foam.
When those terrible marine giants are
painted white It means peace, hospitality,
and stately courtesy. SO one may imagine
there reigns the same serenity in the
broad halls and spacious piazas of this
white sans souci."
After making a series Of pencil sketches
here we saw something Of Stockbridge
Bowl, than which there never was a love-
lier lake. unless perhaps II be Cornwall
/ Pond-pardon, the pond is not to be
| compared to the bowl for 1t is scarcely
teacup by comparison! Personal attach
! ment gives powerful bias to ones artis-
| tic judgment. On the north shore OF this
beautiful bowl once lived and wrote in
a quaint little red house the great Ma
| thaniel Hawthorne. Since ] was here fire
has left nothing but the foundations. This