p there is a sunken zinc-lined box to hold growing plants. Between the
flower boxes there is the usual arrangement of the desk outfit, blotter
pad, paper rack, ink pots, and so forth. The spaces beneath the flower
boxes are filled with shelves for books and magazines. This idea is
thoroughly practicable for any garden room, and is so simple that it
could be constructed by any man who knows how to use tools.

[Illustration: LOOKING OVER THE _TAPIS VERT_ TO THE TRELLIS]

I had the pleasure recently of planning a trellis room for Mrs.
Ormond-Smith's house at Center Island, New York. Here indeed is a garden
room with a proper environment. It is as beautiful as a room very well
can be within, and its great arched windows frame vistas of trees and
water which take their place as a part of the room, ever changing
landscapes that are always captivating. This trellis room is beautifully
proportioned, and large enough to hold four long sofas and many chairs
and tables of wicker and painted wood. The grouping of the sofas and the
long tables made to fit between them is most interesting. These
tables are extremely narrow and just the length of the sofas, and are
built after the idea of Mrs. Armour's garden room desk, with flower
boxes sunk in the ends. The backs of two sofas are placed against the
long sides of the table, which holds a reading lamp and books in
addition to its masses of flowers at the ends. Two such groups divide
the room into three smaller rooms, as you can see by the illustration.
Small tables and chairs are pulled up to the sofas, making conversation
centers, or comfortable places for reading.

The trellis work covers the spaces between windows and doors, and
follows the contour of the arches. The ceiling is bordered with the
trellis, and from a great square of it in the center a lamp is
suspended. The wall panels are broken by appliques that suggest the
bounty of summer, flowers and leaves and vines in wrought and painted
iron. There are pedestals surmounted by marbles against some of the
panels, and a carved bracket supporting a magnificent bust high on one
of the wider panels. The room is classic in its fine balance and its
architectural formality, and modern in its luxurious comfort and its
refreshing color. Surely there could be no pleasanter room for whiling
away a summer day.

XIX

VILLA TRIANON

The story of the Villa Trianon is a fairy-tale come true. It came true
because we believed in i