American homes and gardens (1905) (17965584759)

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
Digitizing Sponsor: BHL-SIL-FEDLINK



Text Appearing Before Image:
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS March, 1906 Moor, the Spaniard or Cuban takes his lawn into the house and builds his mansion around it. The patio is of several kinds as seen in America. One is completely surrounded by the house, as the splendid patio of the Hotel Coronado, at Coronado Beach, California, prob- ably one of the largest in the world, where a great variety of palms and tropical plants are seen. Then there is the half patio, represented in the accompanying photograph of a Pas- adena home, where the house is built around a court on three sides, the rear side being left open. Again the patio may be a court open on two sides, several of which can be seen in Pasadena. In one the patio was an after consideration, and has been extended to the south, the north and east walls of the house forming the closed portion, while the others were has two stories; the roof tiled, and in part the Moorish idea being carried out, the court being essentially Moorish. The patio or court is very large and deep and opens to the west or rear, and is not closed in on that side. The plan of the house is a U, the court or patio representing the hollow in- terior. A beautiful lawn surrounds the house, and the gar- den abounds in tropical plants and shrubs of all kinds, reached from the patio by steps. The center of this patio contains a large fern bed, while from each end arch depend rare and graceful ferns. Such a patio is eminently adapted to the requirements of a country like Southern California, where the life should be to a certain extent in the open air, as nature intended. The patio is at its best when surrounded by a high build-
Text Appearing After Image:
View of a California Patio constructed of Moorish arches. The pavement of this patio is tiling; a low rail runs around it, and there is a small foun- tain in the center and a garden all around it in which are placed plants noted for their beauty and climbing habits; one a bougainvillea that covers the east wall with a blaze of color, so that in looking through the mooresque corridor from with- out they are outlined against this color scheme. Splendid roses trail over the top of the patio or its sides, the top being left open. In this snug harbor the owner sits every day in winter embowered literally among choice flowers, a fine lawn reaching away on every side from the mission house, forming the frame of the picture. In one of the houses, herewith pictured, a Moorish struc- ture is shown adapted to American requirements. The house ing. These are common in Cuba where it is essential to keep out the sun and where the patio is used as the living room of the house; but where the house is one storied the tropical sun beats in and renders the court very hot and disagreeable, though often artistic. There is something romantic and beautiful about the well- appointed patio, and romantic factors in architecture are not always practical. The patio is an exception; it is essentially practical in Southern California, where one should spend part of the time in the open air. In England one sees the senti- ment of privacy carried out very happily. The patio need not be an expensive feature. A house need only be built in the form of a U, a front and two wings and the intermediate portion becomes a patio.