Evening star., 1934-09-29
BY GEORGE L. WILLIAMS.

French have been noted for originality
in their small gardens. No small
house in England, even in a row. is
complete without its window boxes
and old fashioned garden in the rear.
The smallest house in France, with
only tiny plot of ground. will reveal
terest and color.
America was slow in its development
of the town garden, because the houses
were not designed to make garden
livable and accessible. There was no
feeling on the part Of the architects
that at least one room. preferably the
| living room. should open to ter
race and gentle steps, into the garden.
| Today there are some architects who
are able to plan a house and garden in
such way to get the most enjoyment
! from both
No one today will buy house In
! Georgetown or Alexandria without the
possibilities of a small garden, place
to relax on Summer nights, a place
| to dig in in the early Spring. plot
of grass with its borders in colorfu
| flowers.
Kitchen in Front.
In the restoration of old houses,
there is a tendency today to reverse
the f1rst-foor plan by having the
kitchen in front, leaving the entire
| rear of the house as a living room
away from the noise of the street, and
for complete enjoyment of the rear
| garden. What has been done in
| Georgetown and Alexandria can be
accomplished in any other section OF
Washington equally as well because
most of the houses have adequate
space for small gardens.
AS an example of what possibilities
any town house may have for the
development Of rear garden, offer
my own, 2019 Hillyer place, less than
| five months old located in the rear
Of a conventional row house. one-half
block of Connecticut avenue and @
street, almost within the heart of the
city.
AS the house is only a rented one
there was no incentive to spend
great deal Of money on the landlords
| property, yet for less than S100 was
able to cut the dining room windows
down to French doors, build porch
across the entire rear of the house
! Gin such a way to prevent the base
ment from becoming dark, large
enough to dine on in hot weather:
enclose the entire garden with
| whitewashed board fence for privacy
| and supply all the plants necessary
for a small garden, 20 feet wide and
so feet long.
l DaoI froy,, fou-v,
den comes from privacy and if you
can not afford wall made Of old
brick, a board fence. white-washed,
gives contrasting background for
green vines and color of the flowers.
The feeling Of old-fashioned flowers,
romance, contentment and happiness
| comes with such a setting.
| One view in the accompanying pic
ture shows the back of the house
before anything was done. The only
approach to the rear was through
the basement furnace room, within
itself sufficient to kill any enthusiasm
| for a garden. After the windows
were cut down to French doors, and
the porch added, the entire rear Of
the house was completely trans
| formed. The dining room with the
porch Immediately became a garden
room with a flood of sunlight and
! air, and even from the front living
room there is splendid view of the
garden, with distinct feeling that
the entire first floor has become q
part of the outdoors.
Mirrors Reflect Color.
The other view shows the garden
| looking from the house to the rear
and from the rear toward the
house. BY means of vines and win
dow boxes garden feeling was
created instantly. Large pieces of
mirror, picked up at a secondhand
shop and paneled in the walls, reflect
the bright colors of the flowers and
the green vines in manner almost
incredible, and at night the mirrors
create feeling Of moonlight vistas.
There are at least IS other houses
| in the same block with the same
possibilities for garden. So far
no one has done anything about it
| for the simple reason, as they say,
it would be too expensive. Yet the
garden I have developed in less than
| five months has added, I am con-
vinced, $4,000 to the value Of the
property.
There is no better time than Fall
for. the development of an early
| Spring garden. The architectural
| work should be done now to stimulate
the building industry, and any shrub
berry and perennials planted in the
early Fall will surely live. The plan
ming and planting now leaves the
early Spring days free for the de-
velopment of any new ideas which
will surely come
From such an expenditure there
comes the real Joy of living away
from the noise of the street and the
intense heat of the Summer; a place
to dine in the open and relax from
the days work, yet in the heart Of
the city.