029 912 423 ft ^ 
 
 Conservation Resources 
 Lig-Free® Type I 
 
 
■ C93 96 
 
 EEPOET 
 
 PROJECTED IMPROVEMENT 
 
 OF TIIE ESTATE OF 
 
 THE COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA, 
 
 BERKELEY, NEAR OAKLAND. 
 
 OLMSTED, VAITX & CO., 
 
 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS. 
 
 Mew fork : 
 
 Wm. C. Bryant & Co., Printers, 41 Nassau St., cor. Liberty. 
 
 1866. 
 
-J1&1 
 
 ©k 
 
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 REPORT. 
 
 To the Reverend S. H. Willey; 
 
 Chairman of Committee .' 
 Sir; 
 
 The portion of the estate of the College of California, for the 
 improvement of which a plan is required, lies immediately below 
 the steep declivities of the coast range, north and east of that which 
 has already been laid out in rectangular blocks and streets, and sold 
 in village house lots by the Trustees. JSTo change is proposed to 
 be made in the existing public roads and streets, with which, there- 
 fore, any improvements to be made are required to be conveniently 
 associated. 
 
 .When I first visited the ground at your request, it was proposed 
 that the buildings to be erected for the Institution should be placed 
 upon a site which looked down upon the surrounding country on 
 every side except that which would be to their rear, and that the 
 remainder of the property should be formed into a Park, for which 
 it was desired that I should furnish a plan. 
 
 After some preliminary study, I advised you that whatever advan- 
 tages such an arrangement might have in a different climate and 
 soil, it would in my judgment be inappropriate to your site and 
 inconvenient to your purposes, while it would permanently entail 
 burdensome expenses upon your institution. 
 
 My objections to the original project having been deemed conclu 
 sive, I was requested to review the whole question of the placing of 
 the College buildings and the disposition to be made of the tract 
 within which it had been determined that a situation for them 
 should be selected. The general conclusions to which I was brought 
 by this review having been verbally presented to your Committee, I 
 was instructed to draft a plan in accordance with them. This I have 
 done, and in the present report I have to show how this plan is 
 adapted to serve the main purposes of your corporation, as well as 
 some others of public interest 
 
The question as to the local circumstances that would be most favor- 
 able to the attainment of the objects of a College, is mainly a ques- 
 tion of adjustment between a suitable degree of seclusion and a suit- 
 able degree of association with the active life of that part of the 
 world not given to the pursuits of scholars. The organic error in this 
 respect of the institutions of the middle ages and the barrenness of 
 monastic study in the present day, is too apparent to be disregarded. 
 Scholars should be prepared to lead, not to follow reluctantly after, 
 the advancing line of civilization. To be qualified as leaders they 
 must have an intelligent appreciation of and sympathy with the real 
 life of civilization, and this can only be acquired through a familiarity 
 with the higher and more characteristic forms in which it is devel- 
 oped. For this reason it is desirable that scholars, at least during 
 the period of life in which character is most easily moulded, should 
 be surrounded by manifestations of refined domestic life, these being 
 unquestionably the ripest and best fruits of civilization. It is a^sa 
 desirable that they should be free to use at frequent intervals those 
 opportunities of enjoying treasures of art which are generally found 
 in large towns and seldom elsewhere. 
 
 Such is the argument against a completely rural situation for a 
 College. 
 
 On the other hand, the heated, noisy life of a large town is obvi- 
 ously not favorable to the formation of habits of methodical scholar- 
 ship. 
 
 The locality which you have selected is presumed to be judiciously 
 chosen in respect to its proximity to San Francisco. Although it 
 has the advantage of being close by a large town, however, the 
 vicinity is nevertheless as yet not merely in a rural but a completely 
 rustic and almost uninhabited condition, two small families of farmers 
 only having an established home within half a mile of it. This is 
 its chief defect, and the first requirement of a plan for its improve- 
 ment is that it should present sufficient inducements to the formation 
 of a neighborhood of refined and elegant homes in the immediate 
 vicinity of the principal College buildings. 
 
 The second requirement of a plan, is that, while presenting advan- 
 tages for scholarly and domestic life, it shall not be calculated to 
 draw noisy and disturbing commerce to the neighborhood, or any 
 tiling else which would destroy its general tranquility. 
 
 The third requirement of a plan is, that it shall admit of the 
 erection of all the buildings, the need of which for college duties 
 can be distinctly foreseen T in convenient and dignified positions.. 
 
and leave free a sufficient space of ground for such additional build- 
 ings as experience may hereafter suggest, as well as for exercise 
 grounds, gardens, &c. 
 
 I proceed to a consideration of the means of meeting the first of 
 these requirements. 
 
 San Francisco is so situated with regard to the commercial demands 
 of various bodies of the human race, that it may be adopted as one 
 of the elements of the problem to be solved, that many men will gain 
 wealth there, that the number of such men will be constantly in- 
 creasing for a Ions: time to come, and that a large number of resi- 
 dences will be needed for these suited to a family life in accordance 
 with a high scale of civilized requirements. If these requirements 
 can be more completely satisfied in the neighborhood of the college 
 than elsewhere, it may be reasonably anticipated that it will eventu- 
 ally be occupied by such a class as is desired. 
 
 We have to consider then, what these requirements are, and 
 Avhether, by any arrangements you can make or initiate, they may 
 be provided for in an especially complete way, on the property 
 which you have to dispose of. 
 
 We shall gain but little light in this matter, by studying the prac- 
 tice of those who have had it in their power to choose the circum- 
 stances of their residence, the difference in this respect being very 
 great, and leading t<» no clear, general conclusions. Some, for 
 instance, as soon as they are able to withdraw from the active and 
 regular pursuit of their business in towns, seem to have cared for 
 nothing but to go far away from their friends, and to rid themselves 
 of the refinements of life and the various civilized comforts to which 
 they have been previously accustomed. Others can only make a 
 choice among lofty structures, the windows of which look out on 
 busy streets, so that the roar of toiling, pushing crowds, is never 
 escaped from, while for any enjoyment of natural beauty, the occu- 
 pants might as w r ell be confined in a prison. 
 
 In England, the prevailing fashion of wealthy men for several 
 centuries, has been to build great stacks of buildings, more nearly 
 represented by some of our hotels, than anything else we have, 
 and to place these in the most isolated positions possible, in the 
 midst of large domains, with every sign of human surroundings not 
 in a condition of servility or of friendly obligation to themselves, 
 carefully obliterated or planted out. 
 
 This fashion, growing as it doubtless has, out of a conservative dis- 
 
position in regard to feudal social forms, has also been frequently 
 followed in a cheap and shabby -way by many in America, especially 
 in the Southern States, yet no argument can be needed to show its 
 utter inadaptation. even with profuse expenditure, to the commonest 
 domestic requirements of our period of civilization. 
 
 The incompleteness of all these arrangements is easily traced to 
 the ordinary inclination of mankind to over-estimate the value of 
 that which happens to have been difficult to obtain or to have seemed 
 to be so, and to overlook the importance of things which are within 
 comparatively easy reach. 
 
 It is only by reference to some general rnle that will satisfy the 
 common sense, that the comparative value of one or the other of the 
 possible conditions of a residence can be safely estimated, so that 
 those things which are essentially important, may not be sacrificed 
 to matters which are of value only as they gratify a temporary per- 
 sonal fancy or caprice of taste. 
 
 Such a general rule may, I think, be stated as follows : 
 
 The relative importance of the different provisions for human 
 comfort that go to make up a residence is proportionate to the degree 
 in which, ultimately, the health of the inmates is likely to be favor- 
 ably influenced by each, whether through the facility it offers to the 
 cheerful occupation of time and a healthful exercise of the faculties; 
 or through any more direct and constant action. 
 
 Every civilized home centres in an artificial shelter from the 
 elements ; a contrivance to shut out rain, and wind and cold. But 
 little judgment is required to make a shelter sufficiently large and 
 effective. To accomplish this in a way that will be compatible with a 
 due provision of sunlight and fresh air, however, is more difficult^ 
 In fact, perfect shelter at all times and as free a supply of fresh air 
 and sunlight as is desirable to be used by every human being at in- 
 tervals, is impossible; Yet, as their use seems to be always free to 
 the poorest and least intelligent of men, it seldom occurs to such as 
 are intent on making good provision in other respects for the com- 
 fort of their families, to take great care to make the use of sunlight 
 and air easy and agreeable. I he consequence is that their houses are 
 really no better in this respect than those of careless and indolent 
 men ; often not as good, the advantages of the latter in this one par- 
 ticular being sacrificed by the more prudent to more complete 
 arrangements for accomplishing the primary purpose of shelter. 
 
 More unhappiness probably arises from this cause, in houses which 
 
are in most respects luxuriously appointed, than from any other 
 which can be clearly defined and guarded against. 
 
 Attractive open-air apartments, so formed that they can be often 
 occupied for hours at a time, with convenience and ease in 
 every respect, without the interruption of ordinary occupations or 
 difficulty of conversation, are indeed indispensable in the present 
 state of society to the preservation of health and cheerfulness in 
 families otherwise living in luxury. The inmates of houses which 
 are well built and furnished in other respects, but in which such 
 apartments are lacking, are almost certain, before many years, to be 
 much troubled with languor, dullness of perceptions, nervous debil- 
 ity or distinct nervous diseases. The effort to resist or overcome 
 these tendencies, except by very inconvenient expedients, such as 
 traveling abroad, or others of which it is impossible to make habit- 
 ual use without a sacrifice of the most valuable domestic influences, 
 leads to a disposition to indulge in unhealthy excitements, to de- 
 praved imaginations and appetites, and frequently to habits of dissi- 
 pation. 
 
 It may be thought that this is a defect which, in most houses with 
 private grounds about them, might be so easily remedied that it is 
 hardly credible that I do not exaggerate the degree in which it mars 
 the happiness of families who are so fortunate as to live out of the 
 midst of towns. But it is a great mistake to suppose that it is a simple 
 matter to make it convenient and agreeable, to delicate women 
 especially, to spend much time healthfully in the open air. Lord 
 Bacon, three hundred years ago, sagaciously observed : 
 
 " God Almighty first planted a garden, and, indeed, it is the 
 purest of human pleasures ; it is the greatest of refreshment to the 
 spirits of man, without which buildings and palaces are but gross 
 handiworks : and a man shall ever see that when ages grow to civility 
 and elegance, men come to build stately sooner than to garden finely — 
 as if gardening were the greater perfection" 
 
 In the formation of country residences of the smallest pretensions 
 far greater study and a far larger proportionate expenditure is gen- 
 erally made in England, and in most countries where civilization has 
 been long established, upon matters of out of door domestic conve- 
 nience than in America. Yet the difficulties to be overcome and 
 the need to overcome them, are incomparably greater in America, 
 and especially in California, than in England. The truth is they are so 
 great that they are commonly regarded as insurmountable, and a deli- 
 berate effort to make sure that the out of door part of a residence shall 
 
be conveniently habitable and enjoyable is not thought oi. Ihe 
 "garden" and " grounds " are regarded merely as ornamental ap- 
 pendages of a house, marks of the social ambitions of the owner, 
 like the plate and carpats within, rather than as essentials of 
 health and comfort, like the beds and baths. Yet the frequent action 
 of free sun-lighted air upon the lungs for a considerable space of 
 time is unquestionably more important than the frequent washing of 
 the skin with water or the perfection of nightly repose. 
 
 Another class of civilized requirements frequently forgotten by 
 men who have earned, by their skill and industry in providing for 
 the wants of others, the right to live luxuriously, consists of those 
 which can only be met by the services of numerous persons who are 
 not members of the family requiring them, such] as purveyors of 
 various articles of food and bodily refreshment ; artisans, musi- 
 cians, nurses, seamstresses, and various occasional servants. (Physi- 
 cians, teachers and clergymen might be added, but the absence of 
 these from a neighborhood is less frequently overlooked.) Towns- 
 people who have been accustomed to find those able to render such 
 services always within ready call are particularly apt to neglect to 
 consider how much of their comfort is dependent on this circumstance, 
 and often discover it only after they have, by a large expenditure, 
 made a home for themselves in which they are obliged to live in a 
 state which, by comparison with their town life, seems one of almost 
 savage privation. 
 
 The first of the two classes of requirements to which I have re- 
 ferred, it is obvious, can never be satisfactorily provided for in a 
 town house, as towns are usually laid out. Hence, as statistics 
 testify, families -living in such towns, except where habitual resort is 
 had to parks or gardens, or to annual journeys in the country, con- 
 stantly tend to increasing feebleness of constitution, and generally 
 become extinct from this cause in a few generations. The second 
 class can not be provided for in an isolated country house. Hence, 
 in a great measure the frequency with which wealthy men who have 
 spent enormous sums to provide themselves country houses abound- 
 ing in luxury, are willing, after the experience of a few years, to dis- 
 pose of them at great pecuniary sacrifice. 
 
 It is true, that by great expenditure, many of the usual inconveni- 
 ences and deprivations of a residence in the country may be made of 
 small account,. But often it is found that with double the current 
 
expenditure in a country house of the most luxurious equipment, the 
 same variety of civilized enjoyments can not be obtained as are to 
 be had in town houses of a much more modest description. There 
 are certain very desirable commodities, indeed, that very poor fami- 
 lies can enjoy when living in or near large towns, that even the very 
 rich commonly dispense with when they live in the country. These 
 constitute a large part of the attractions which such towns have for 
 poor and rich alike. 
 
 There can be no question, that, as a general rule, people of easy 
 circumstances, especially those who have the habits of townspeople, 
 if they want to make the most of life, should not undertake to live 
 where they will be necessarily dependent in any degree much greater 
 than is usual in towns for the supply of their every day material 
 requirements upon labor performed within their own walls, nor 
 where they can be deprived at any time of year, much more than 
 they would be in towns, of good roads and walks, and other advan- 
 tages for exercise, and easy, cheerful use of whatever advantages 
 there may be near them for social intercourse. Yet it is equally cer- 
 tain that if they fail to secure fresh air in abundance, pleasant natural 
 scenery, trees, flowers, birds, and, in short, all the essential advan- 
 tages of a rural residence, they will possess but a meagre share of 
 the reward which Providence offers in this world to the exercise of 
 prudence, economy, and wise forecast. But if we are thus compelled 
 to seek the site for a residence " out of town," and to take care that 
 all effort to secure comfort in it is not exhausted in the plan of the 
 mere house, or shelter from the elements, we must also remember 
 that to keep extensive private grounds in good repair, and perfectly 
 fresh and clean, requires more skill and labor, as well as administra- 
 tive ability, than all the rest of the ordinary housekeeping affairs ot 
 a moderate family. And as, unless they are so kept, extensive pri- 
 vate grounds are not simply useless, but absolutely irksome, when 
 associated with a family residence, and as it is hardly possible in 
 America to maintain for any lengthened period a large body of 
 efficient domestic servants, however extravagantly disposed a man 
 may be in this particular, the folly of attempting to imitate the aris- 
 tocratic English custom which has been referred to is evident. 
 
 It may be laid down, then, as a rule, to which there will be but 
 
 few exceptions, and these only in the case of families not only of 
 
 very unusual wealth, but of quite exceptional tastes, that for the 
 
 daily use of a family, no matter how rich, if the site be well chosen, 
 
 2 
 
10 . 
 
 and the surrounding circumstances are favorable, a space of private 
 ground of many acres in extent, is entirely undesirable. 
 
 If the surrounding circumstances are not favorable — if there are 
 dirty roads, ugly buildings, noisy taverns, or the haunts of drunken 
 or disorderly people near by, ground which it would otherwise be 
 undesirable to hold may be wanted in which to plant them out of 
 sight and hearing ; if the country in the neighborhood is not agree- 
 able to walk, ride, or drive through, a large space may be wanted in 
 which to form extended private walks, rides, and drives, which shall 
 be artificially agreeable; if one's neighbors are of surly, hot-blooded, 
 undisciplined, quarrelsome character, he will want to buy them out 
 of their land in order to have them at a greater distance, and to be 
 free from the danger of their return. If he is himself of an osten- 
 tatious, romantic, and dramatic disposition, he may require, more 
 than any other luxury, to have a large body of servile dependents 
 about him, and may want to disguise the fact of his actual insignifi- 
 cance among his neighbors by establishing his house at a distance 
 from anything that he can not think of as belonging to himself or 
 subordinate to his will. But the great majority of men who have 
 the ability to gain or hold wealth in America come under neither 
 of these heads, and in the choice of a place of residence will find it 
 best, at the outset, to avoid, if they have the opportunity to do so, all 
 such conditions as have been enumerated. 
 
 A respectable college could not be established in any locality with- 
 out bringing to it a certain amount of neighborhood advantages, 
 while if it is not positively repellant to, it at least can have no direct 
 attraction for, the more common constituents of a bad neighborhood, 
 that is, for those things which every man must wish to keep at a great 
 distance from his house. If, then, you can make your neighborhood 
 positively attractive in other respects, especially if you can make it in 
 important particulars more attractive than any other suburb of San 
 Francisco, you can offer your land for sale, for villa residences, in 
 lots of moderate size, with entire confidence that you will thus cause 
 to grow up about it such a neighborhood as is most desirable, with 
 reference to your first purpose. 
 
 What, then, are the requisites (exterior to private ground) of 
 an attractive neighborhood, besides good neighbors, and such insti- 
 tutions as are tolerably sure to be established among good neighbors ? 
 The most important, I believe, will be found in all cases to be that 
 of good out-goings from the private grounds, whether with reference 
 
11 
 
 to social visiting, or merely to the pleasure and healthfulness of oc- 
 casional changes of scene, and more extended free movement than it 
 is convenient to maintain the means of exercising within private 
 grounds. 
 
 For this purpose the common roads and walks of the immediate 
 neighborhood, at all' times of the year, must be neither muddy nor 
 dusty, nor rough, nor steep, nor excessively exposed to the heat of 
 the sun or the fierceness of the wind. Just so far as they fail in any 
 of these respects, whatever is beautiful in the neighborhood, what- 
 ever is useful — churches, schools, and neighbors included — becomes 
 in a certain degree disagreeable, and a source of discomfort and 
 privation. No matter what a neighborhood may be in all other re- 
 spects, therefore, if it fails in these it must be condemned as unfit 
 for a civilized residence. It is folly to suppose that compensation 
 for the ill-health and the vexations that will daily arise from a poor 
 provision in this respect will be found in such other circumstances 
 as a beautiful prospect from a house, or a rich soil, or springs of 
 water or fine trees about it, or any other mere private or local pos- 
 session, for the lack of these can generally be remedied in large 
 degree by individual wisdom and expenditure, while the lack of 
 good out-goings cannot. 
 
 The desideratum of a residence next in importance will be points 
 in the neighborhood at which there are scenes, either local or dis- 
 tant, either natural or artificial, calculated to draw women out of 
 their houses and private grounds, or which will at least form appar- 
 ent objects before them when they go out. It will be all the better 
 if many are likely to resort to these points, and they thus become 
 social rendezvous of the neighborhood. 
 
 Next to points at some distance from a house commanding beau- 
 tiful views, it is desirable to be able to look out from the house itself 
 upon an interesting distant scene. This is generally not too little 
 but too much thought of, the location of many houses being deter- 
 mined by regard for this circumstance alone, and things of far 
 greater importance being sacrificed to it. It will be found that 
 when this is the case — when, for instance, a house is placed in a 
 lonely, bleak position, on the top of a hill difficult to ascend — the 
 most charming prospect soon loses its attractiveness, and from asso- 
 ciation with privation and fatigue becomes absolutely repulsive. 
 
 Nor is it desirable that a fine distant view should be seen from 
 all parts of the house, or of the grounds about it. This, indeed, is 
 impossible, if the house and grounds are in themselves completclv 
 
12 
 
 agreeable. The first and most essential condition of a home, is do- 
 mestic seclusion. It is this which makes it home, the special be- 
 longing of a family. If it is not attractive within itself, and chiefly 
 and generally within itself, and made so by, or for the sake of, the 
 family, it is no home, but merely a camp ; an expedient of barbar- 
 ism made use of to serve a temporary purpose of a civilized fami- 
 ly. Yet it is a good thing to be able at times, without going far, 
 within or without the house, to take a seat from which, while in the 
 midst of the comfort and freedom from anxiety of a home, a beau- 
 tiful or interesting distant scene can be commanded. It is not de- 
 sirable to have such a scene constantly before one. If within con- 
 trol, it should be held only where it can be enjoyed under circum- 
 stances favorable to sympathetic contemplation. 
 
 The class of views most desirable thus to be had within easy reach, 
 is probably that which will include all well balanced and complete 
 landscapes. The general quality of the distant scene should be natural 
 and tranquil, but in the details there should be something of human in- 
 terest. Xo matter what the character of the distant outlook, however, 
 it is always desirable that the line or space of division between that 
 which is interior and essential to the home itself and that without 
 which is looked upon from it, should be distinct and unmistakable. 
 That is to say, whenever there is an open or distant view from a resi- 
 dence, the grounds, constructions and plantations about the house 
 should form a fitting foreground to that view, well defined, suitably 
 proportioned, salient, elegant and finished. 
 
 It may be observed that such an arrangement is not compatible 
 with what some writers on landscape gardening have said of " appro- 
 priation of ground ;" but it need hardly be argued that a man is 
 going wrongly to work to make a home for himself when he begins 
 by studying how he can make that appear to be a part of his home 
 which is not so. 
 
 Even if this appropriated ground were public ground, to look at it 
 from a private house without seeing a well defined line of separation 
 between it and the family property, or without a marked distinction 
 of character between the two, in the details of the scenery, would be 
 to have the family property made public rather than the public 
 property made private. 
 
 If it is desirable that the distinction between the character of the 
 ground which forms a part of the home and of that which forms a 
 pait of the neighborhood beyond the home, should be thus empha- 
 sized, it is also desirable, and for a like reason, that there should be a 
 
13 
 
 somewhat similar gradation between that which constitutes the neigh- 
 borhood and that which is more distant. In other words, a neighbor- 
 hood being desirable, the existence of a neighborhood should be obvi- 
 ous, and for this reason the scenery which marks the neighborhood 
 should be readily distinguishable. The view from the window or 
 balcony should, in short, be artistically divisible into the three parts 
 of; first, the home view or immediate foreground; second, the 
 neighborhood view or middle distance, and third, the far outlook 
 or background. Each one of these points should be so related to each 
 other one as to enhance its distinctive beauty, and it will be fortu- 
 nate if the whole should form a symmetrical, harmonious and com- 
 plete landscape composition. 
 
 Of these three desiderata, the first only can be supplied by private 
 effort. A site for a residence, therefore, should be selected i if pos- 
 sible, where the other two are found ready to hand. 
 
 For the purpose of ascertaining what was necessary to be supplied 
 upon your ground to give it the advantages which have been des- 
 cribed, and others, generally recognized to be essential to a neiglp 
 borhood of the best form of civilized homes ; 1 visited it under a 
 variety of circumstances, in summer and winter, by night and by 
 day, and I now propose to state what are its natural conditions ; 
 what are the artificial conditions required, and how these may be 
 best secured. 
 
 First.— ^In respect of soil, exposure, natural foliage and water 
 supply, your ground is, to say the least, unsurpassed in the vicinity 
 of San Francisco. 
 
 Second. — There are few if any suburbs which command as fine a 
 distant prospect. The undulations of the ground and the difference 
 of elevation between the upper and the lower parts give the ad- 
 vantage of this prospect in its main features to a large number of 
 points of view, so situated that the erection of buildings and the 
 growth of trees at other points will be no interruption to it. 
 
 Third. — With respect to climate and adaptation to out of door 
 occupation, persons who had resided upon the ground or who had 
 had frequent occasion to cross it, having stated that the sea-winds 
 which nearly everywhere else near San Francisco are in summer ex- 
 tremely harsh, chilling and disagreeable to all, and often very trying 
 to delicate persons, were felt at this point very little, I gave this 
 alleged advantage particular consideration. 
 
14 
 
 During the month of August I spent ten days on the ground, 
 usually coming from San Francisco in the morning and returning at 
 night. The climate of San Francisco was at this time extremely 
 disagreeable, -while that of the College property was as fine as possible. 
 One morning, when I left San Francisco at nine o'clock, though the 
 air was clear, a light but chilling north-west wind was blowing. The 
 same wind, somewhat modified, prevailed at Oakland. At Berkeley 
 the air was perfectly calm. Ascending the mountain side a few 
 hundred feet, I again encountered the wind. Descending, it was 
 lost, and the air remained calm until I left at five in the afternoon; 
 the temperature being at the same time agreeably mild. During all 
 the day I observed that San Francisco was enveloped in fog and that 
 fog and smoke drifted rapidly from it over the bay and over Oak- 
 land. At five o'clock, in returning to San Francisco, after driving 
 two miles toward Oakland, I had need to put on my overcoat. In • 
 the cabin of the ferry-boat, with doors closed, I saw women and 
 children shivering, and heard the suggestion that the boat should be 
 warmed in such weather. At San Francisco I found a blustering, 
 damp wind and my friends sitting about a fire. The following day 
 there was in the morning a pleasant, soft breeze at Berkeley, but 
 late in the afternoon it fell to a complete calm. I determined to 
 remain on the ground for the purpose of ascertaining whether this 
 would continue or whether it preceded a change of temperature and 
 a visit of the sea- wind after nio-ht-fall. At sunset the fog-clouds 
 were rolling over the mountain tops back of San Francisco, gorge- 
 ous in rosy and golden light ; the city itself was obscured by a 
 drifting scud. At Berkeley the air remained perfectly serene, 
 and, except for the fog-banks in the southwest, which soon became 
 silvery and very beautiful in the moonlight, I never saw a clearer or 
 brighter sky. It remained the same, the air being still of a delight- 
 ful temperature, till morning, when the sun, rising over the moun- 
 tains in the rear, gave a new glory to the constant clouds overhang- 
 ing the heights on each side of the '' Golden Gate." Going back in 
 the afternoon to San Francisco, I again found the temperature in 
 contrast to that of Berkeley disagreeably chilling, though the day 
 was considered there an uncommonly fine one and the wind was less 
 severe than usual. 
 
 I have visited the other suburbs of San Francisco and studied them 
 with some care, and, without being able to express a definite estimate 
 of the decree of difference between their climate and that of Berk- 
 
15 
 
 eley, and without being able to assert from my limited observation, 
 that the immunity of the hitter from the chilling sea-wind is abso- 
 lutely complete and constant, I think that I am warranted in endorsing 
 the opinion that the climate of Berkeley is distinguished for a pe- 
 culiar serenity, cheerfulness and healthfullness. 
 
 I know of no entirely satisfactory explanation of the fact. Bat it 
 may be observed that it lies to the northward of the course of the 
 northwest wind which draws through the Golden Gate and which 
 sweeps the peninsula to the southward of the city and the Contra 
 Costa country south of Oakland, and that there are to the northward 
 and northwestward of it several spurs of the Monte Diabolo range, 
 the form of which is calculated to deflect currents of air setting clown 
 the bay from the northward. The form of the trees on the top of 
 the nearest of these hills indicates an upward deflection of the north- 
 erly wind. 
 
 It will be seen that the natural advantages which led to the choice 
 of the locality for the college, adapt it still more for a neighborhood 
 of luxurious family residences. 
 
 The disadvantages of the site, as compared with districts in other 
 parts of the world, which are considered to be of choice character 
 for rural or suburban residences, are those which are common to all 
 the country near San Francisco, and most of these it possesses in less 
 degree than any other I have seen, while, at the same time, there are 
 in the local conditions, unusual advantages for overcoming them. 
 If, therefore, these advantages are made use of in a large, bold and 
 resolute way, the neighborhood will ultimately possess attractions, 
 especially for those with whose memories of childhood the rural 
 scenes of the Atlantic States, or of most of Northern Europe are 
 associated, with which there will be nothing else to compare in the 
 vicinity. I say this, not out of regard for the charm which such 
 scenes would have from mere association with youthful pleasures, 
 but for the fact that there is a real relationship of cause and effect 
 between the conditions which are necessary to the elements of those 
 scenes, and those which are required to contribute to the comfort of 
 mankind. For instance, the ground will not often be found hard, 
 nor harsh, nor sticky, and neither mud nor dnst will cause annoy- 
 ance when a ramble is taken over surface all of which is either shel- 
 tered by foliage, or covered with turf. Again, in a country of thick, 
 umbrageous, pendulous woods, coppices and thickets, protection from 
 
10 
 
 severe winds, and from the direct rays of the sun everywhere appears 
 to be close at hand, and we feel less instinctively disinclined to 
 venture forth freely in it. Moreover, when these elements of 
 scenery are found in profusion, the scene before us, as we move in 
 any direction, is constantly interrupted by the bodies of foliage, 
 and re-arranged into new combinations and these often have a pro- 
 portion and relation of parts which satisfies the requirements of an 
 artistic instinct, and which, in a complete realization, constitutes 
 what is technically termed a composition. For this reason, although 
 it may not command our wonder, or any profound feeling, it gives 
 promise of constant interest, and cheerfully influences the imagina- 
 tion. There will be greater interest also, in the details of such 
 scenery which must be closely observed, than in any other. Birds 
 and flowers, for instance, will be more evenly distributed, over it, so 
 that even in their absence, we never know that we may not. at the 
 nest moment come upon them. 
 
 But let any one go out into the country near San Francisco, in any 
 direction, and he will rarely find his interest thus stimulated. At 
 one season he will every where find abundant flowers, and in some 
 of the gulches he may always find bushes and birds. Looking at the 
 distant hills from a high position again, he may see a certain beauty 
 of scenery, yet it can seldom be said that he has before him a com- 
 pletely beautiful landscape ; probably never, in anyplace otherwise 
 suitable for a home, and during any considerable part of the year. 
 The nearer part of the natural landscape will nearly everywhere be 
 coarse, rude, raw; grand or picturesque possibly, but never beautiful 
 or appropriate to a home, Nor, however great the beauty, in cer- 
 tain states of the atmosphere, of the distant hills and water, is there 
 anything in nature which seems to invite or welcome one to ramble. 
 The surface of the ground beyond the immediate foreground com- 
 monly seems hard, bare, dead and bleak; what few trees there are 
 appear stiff and rigid, and are as dull and monotonous in color as 
 they are ungraceful in form. Even the atmosphere, when it is not 
 foggy and chilly, is colorless and toneless. Only in the far distance 
 is there any delicacy and softness. 
 
 Thus, however grand it may be, and whatever interest it may 
 possess, the region about San Francisco, is peculiarly destitute of 
 what I may denominate domestic beauty, and of that kind of 
 interest which is appropriate to domestic occupation. 
 
 It would be audacious to suppose that even in a neighborhood of 
 
17 
 
 a mile or two in extent, these defects could be completely remedied, 
 or that they could be remedied in any notable degree in a very short 
 time, or without much judiciously applied labor. But, if what is 
 proposed to be accomplished, is modestly conceived, and the requisite 
 effort is made and sustained for a sufficient period, it is unquestion- 
 able that the more uninviting elements of the existing scenery may 
 be reduced in importance, and its more attractive features presented 
 to much greater advantage than they are under merely natural cir- 
 cumstances, or under any artificial conditions yet in existence. It 
 may also be confidently anticipated that the result will be peculiarly 
 home-like and grateful in contrast to the ordinary aspect of the open 
 country of California. 
 
 For instance, if we imagine the greater part of your property to have 
 passed in tracts of from two to five acres into the possession of men 
 each of whom shall have formed, as a part of his private residence, 
 a proper foreground of foliage to his own home outlook, it follows, 
 from what I have before argued, that one of the chief defects of the 
 scenery would be in a great degree remedied. For these bodies of 
 rich and carefully nurtured foliage would form part of an artistic 
 middle distance to all other points in the vicinity which would over- 
 look them, and would so frame under the more distant prospect from 
 these exterior points of view, that a strong gradation of aerial per- 
 spective would occur, and the fact will be observed that if the range 
 of the eye is but thus carried to a certain distance, especially to the 
 westward or southward, the view is everywhere exceedingly beautiful, 
 both in respect to the form of the hills and their beauty of color and 
 tone, under all atmosperic conditions. Even in stormy weather, 
 there is great grandeur in the movements of the clouds rolling over 
 their sombre slopes and declivities, and I remember a single scene 
 of this kind as one of the most impressive that I have ever wit- 
 nessed. But on ordinary occasions the view to the westward, if the 
 eye does not regard the dullness of the nearer part of the landscape, 
 while it is one of great depth and breadth, is also one of peculiarly 
 cheerful interest. 
 
 The main requirements of a plan, then, for the improvement of this 
 reoion, with reference to residences, must be, first, so to arrange the 
 roads upon which private property will front as to secure the best 
 practicable landscape effects from the largest number of points of 
 view; second, so to arrange the roads and public ground as to give 
 the owners of the private property satisfactory outgoings, in respect, 
 first, to convenience of use ; second, to attractiveness in their borders; 
 
18 
 
 and, third, to command of occasional distant views and complete 
 landscapes. 
 
 To meet the second of these requirements, the borders of the roads 
 should be absolutely neat or even nice; there should be no raw 
 banks or bare neglected looking places, nor drifts of rubbish by their 
 side. 
 
 This, in the climate of the locality, implies one of two things, 
 either that the whole roadside is watered daily during several months 
 of the year, or that it is closely lined and draped over with living 
 foliage. 
 
 The latter might be undesirable if there were pleasant open 
 scenery along the road ; but where, as it must be supposed will be 
 the case here, there will generally be within a distance of a hundred 
 feet or more of the road, only a choice between a harsh, brown 
 surface, as at present, or a private garden (it may be a vegetable 
 garden), or a continuous grove, it will be the more agreeable as well 
 as much the cheaper arrangement. 
 
 1 can think of nothing to which the imagination turns with more 
 eagerness in the bleak and open scenery, and the exceeding and all- 
 pervading lightness of the day-light of California, than to memories of 
 shady old lanes running through a close and overarching bowery of 
 foliage, and such an ideal should be fixed before whoever is placed in 
 charge of your improvements. Until the experiment has been tried 
 on your soil, perfect success cannot be predicated, perhaps, with 
 entire confidence, unless you should conclude to lay on water in such 
 a way that it would be applied freely and without fail, by me- 
 chanical action, to your road borders. That the ideal might be thus 
 perfectly realized will be evident to any one who will follow up the 
 water-course in the ravine a few rods below the Simpson House, near 
 the point where a bridge is indicated on the plan. Here water stands 
 near the surface of the ground during the entire summer, even when 
 it disappears further down the arroya, and trees in the rear shade 
 the undergrowth, which is consequently thick, intricate, luxuriant, 
 rich, and graceful, completely sheltering the visitor from the sun, 
 and all the ordinary untidiness of the surface of the ground is lost. 
 
 But I do not suppose that any artificial application of water would 
 be necessary on any of the ground where in the plan roads are 
 laid down, to secure a high degree of the desired effect, if properly 
 " selected shrubs are once well established on the soil and backed up 
 with trees such as have already spontaneously grown in it, in many 
 eases to good size. 
 
19 
 
 The course of the roads, as laid down in the plan, generally fol- 
 lows the natural depressions of the surface, and I am strongly of the 
 opinion that in these situations, if not on the more elevated parts of 
 all the ground included in the plan, there w r ould soon be a natural 
 growth of trees and shrubs if perfect protection were secured for a 
 few years from the action of fire and the close cropping of animals, 
 and I can have no doubt that when the ground shall have been well 
 trenched, nearly all the trees and shrubs which grow naturally in 
 the more favored canons of the Coast Range, as well as many others, 
 if planted and carefully tended for two or three years, would there- 
 after grow healthfully, rapidly, and in graceful forms. 
 
 It will be seen, by reference to the large drawing, that all the 
 ground, not required for other purposes, is laid out in a number of 
 divisions, varying in length and breadth, but each of such a form 
 that it could be easily subdivided by simple lines into lots, each of 
 one to five acres in extent, of suitable shape and favorably situated 
 in all respects for a family home. The relative position of the houses 
 erected, and trees grown upon the different lots, may be such that the 
 best view from each site will remain not only uninterrupted, but 
 rather improved by that below it. The divisions are separated one 
 from the other by lanes bordered, as already explained, on each side 
 by continuous thick groves, and access to each private lot from these 
 lanes is arranged by short approaches branching from them. The 
 area of ground contained in these divisions is 195 acres, (including 
 nearly 90 acres belonging to private owners between the college 
 property and the adjoining public roads), and might with advantage 
 be occupied by from 50 to 100 private families. 
 
 The lanes are arranged with reference to continuations to the 
 northward and southward, should additional accommodation of the 
 same character be hereafter found desirable. Connection is also made 
 by shaded roads with the village already laid out in the vicinity, and 
 a public garden, containing a children's playground, with a series of 
 shaded walks and arbors about it, is provided for, adjoining this 
 village. 
 
 Between the garden and the village, a street is widened so as to 
 form a small plaza or village market-place. 
 
 There are three entrances to the series of lanes from the general di- 
 rection of San Francisco. One of these is intended to be approached 
 by a projected street railroad, and also by a direct avenue from the 
 proposed steamboat landing at that point of the bay which is nearest 
 
20 
 
 to the property. The second approach is through the midst of the 
 village. The third is by a new road which I recommend should he 
 laid out as a pleasure drive from Oakland. This road would be to 
 the southward of, and run parallel with the present Telegraph road, 
 until after it has passed the vicinity of the new Cemetery, where it 
 would curve upon a long radius to the left, and passing to the east- 
 ward of some of the lowest foot hills, cross the Telegragh road near 
 the foot of the mountains, and approach Berkeley on a line parallel 
 with the range, passing along the east side of the public garden, aud 
 reaching the vicinity of the College without entering the village, as 
 shown upon the plan. Such a road would form a drive much more 
 attractive than any now in use out of Oakland, and would lay open a 
 most desirable region for residences all along the foot of the 
 mountains. 
 
 One of the neighborhood lanes is extended eastwardly to the 
 mouth of the valley or gorge in the mountains, which is a part of the 
 property of the College, but which it would be inconvenient to show 
 upon the drawing. This lane is intended to be extended up the 
 gorge, first, however, crossing to the other side, not far beyond the 
 point at which it terminates in the drawing. Thence it is intended 
 to follow up the course of the brook as I have verbally explained to 
 you, and as close upon its banks as is practicable, until the point is 
 reached at which the branch enters from the left. There the lane 
 should fork, being carried up the branch to the left with such curves 
 as will be, necessary to reach the small table land at present occupied 
 by a grazier's house. From this it would return on the left bank of 
 the southerly branch of the stream to the main stem, crossing near 
 the fork by a bridge. 
 
 There should be a convenient stopping place for carriages upon 
 the table land, from which a walk should be formed to the highest 
 point of the knoll around which the lane passes. At this point there 
 is a very interesting view through the gorge and out upon the bay, 
 and it would be a suitable place for a small summer house or pavil- 
 lion. The lane within the gorge would have to be formed by exca- 
 vation in the hill side, and a thick plantation should be carefully es- 
 tablished on the upper slope so as to confine attention to the damp 
 ravine below and the opposite bank, which to a considerable height 
 is abundantly covered with native foliage of a very beautiful char- 
 acter. 
 
 As this road follows a stream of water from the open landscape of 
 the bay region into the midst of the mountains it offers a great 
 
21 
 
 change ot scenery within a short distance, and will constitute a 
 unique and most valuable appendage to the general local attractions 
 of the neighborhood. 
 
 The plan, as shown in the drawing, encroaches slightly upon the 
 land which does not at present belong to your corporation, on the 
 westward and northward, but you advised me to assume that you 
 would be able to acquire possession of this land if desirable. 
 
 The extent of the sylvan lanes which I have described, exclusive 
 of the village streets, the avenue to the bay shore, and the road into 
 the mountain gorge, would be about five miles. At several points 
 upon them there would he very fine distant views, each having 
 some distinctive advantage. The local scenery would also at 
 many points be not only quite interesting, even without any effort 
 to produce special effects by planting, but it would have consider- 
 able variety, much more so than might be supposed from the draw- 
 ing. The road is designed to be laid out in such a way as to make 
 the most of the natural features, while preserving their completely 
 sylvan and rural character, being carried with frequent curves in 
 such a way as to make the best use of the picturesque banks of the 
 arroyas and the existing trees upon them. These are sometimes al- 
 lowed to divide it into two parts. Notwithstanding the varied curves 
 which the arrangement involves, the general course of the lanes will 
 be found simple and the connection between the more important 
 points sufficiently direct. This is especially the case w T ith the ap- 
 proaches to the College site from the points nearest it at which the 
 neighborhood is entered. 
 
 A tract of low, flat ground, 27 acres in extent, pleasantly sur- 
 rounded on three sides by moderate elevations, two of which retire 
 so as to form along bay or dell, is proposed to be formed into a small 
 park or general pleasure ground. The site is naturally more moist, 
 fertile and meadow-like than any other in the vicinity and a consider- 
 able number of old and somewhat quaint and picturesque oaks are 
 growing in a portion of it. This occurrence, with a thick growth of 
 underwood and of rank, herbaceous plants, leads me to think that if 
 it were thoroughly drained, cleaned and tilled, trees would naturally 
 grow upou it in more umbrageous and elegant forms than elsewhere, 
 and that turf could be more easily formed and maintained upon its 
 surface. I recommend that it should be surrounded by a thick plan- 
 tation similar to that proposed to be formed by the side of the lanes, 
 and that in the front of this, trees should be planted singly and in 
 small detached groups, as they are often seen in open pastures in the 
 
22 
 
 East, while in the central portions of it a perfect living green sward 
 should if possible be formed. 
 
 For this purpose, after the thorough under drainage of all parts of 
 the ground, it should be trench-plowed as deeply as possible, or 
 trenched with a spade to the depth of two feet or more ; manure or 
 rich loose soil being placed at the bottom. The surface should then 
 be worked very fine and assorted grass seeds of the kinds which ex- 
 perience in Oakland and San Francisco indicates to possess the most 
 enduring vitality in the climate, should he sown very thickly — at the 
 rate at least of three bushels to the acre. The surface should then be 
 rolled with a heavy roller. As soon as the grass has grown to an average 
 height of two inches, it should be mown and rolled again with a lawn 
 machine, drawn by a horse with his feet muffled. The mowing and 
 rolling should be repeated at intervals of from three to ten days, 
 whenever the grass is growing fairly, and it should never be allowed 
 to reach the height of three inches or to form seed. With this treat- 
 ment it will probably form a firm sod which will remain green, 
 soft and velvety during the greater part of the year. At the height 
 of the dry season, however, it would, I presume, require daily water- 
 ing, and for this purpose there should be a series of hydrants con • 
 cealed in the shrubbery around it, and others at intervals in the 
 midst of it, the latter being set entirely below the surface of the 
 ground in cases covered with a small cap, hy lifting which the butt 
 of the hose could be inserted. 
 
 I would strongly urge that not the leasf ground should appear out- 
 side of the necessary Avalks and roadway anywhere within your 
 property, which can not be hidden from sight by the foliage of trees, 
 shrubs or vines, except so much as you feel confident you can 
 afford to treat in the manner which I have thus suggested. 
 The expense of such a treatment is so great and it is so unlikely to 
 be constantlv maintained through a Ions; series of years that I have 
 reluctantly embodied any green sward at all in the plan. I am in- 
 fluenced to do so, however, by regard not only for your original desire 
 for a much larger extent of it than is now proposed but for the very 
 great addition to the general beauty of the neighborhood, which 
 would be gained by such an arrangement and by a consideration of 
 the advantages which would come from it to the institution, by 
 supplying a suitable field for athletic games and other agreeable 
 exercises ; and the effect which it would thus have upon the health 
 and spirits of the students and those who would be associated with 
 them. 
 
23 
 
 If this part of the plan should not be approved on account of the 
 expense which would be required to properly carry it out, then 1 
 would suggest that at least so much turf should be formed and kept 
 as would be contained in the strip immediately in front of the central 
 college building, in the line of the Golden Gate. Arrangements 
 could be made by which this might be all sprinkled with very little 
 labor. The remainder should be planted with trees, except an arena 
 a little south and east of the centre, to be made perfectly level and 
 used as a ball-ground. The whole of the ground not covered with 
 turf should be very thoroughly cleaned by repeated plowings and 
 harrowings, then covered with three or four inches of gravel from 
 which sand and dust, as well as all particles laigef than a small olive, 
 should have been removed by a double screening. This should be 
 heavily rolled, and every spring afterwards it should be scurried, 
 dressed with salt and again rolled until hard enough and smooth 
 enough to be swept with a common corn-broom. It might, in this 
 way, probably be kept clean enough for use, and, surrounded or over- 
 hung by trees, it would not be offensive to the eye. 
 
 A part of the ground (D) reserved for general college purposes on 
 the high land to the eastward of the park may be used for a garden it 
 required, or if the plan neither of a park nor of a glade of turf ex- 
 tending to the westward, before the college site, should be approved, 
 a garden would more appropriately occupy that position than private 
 residences, or a road or walk with coppice border. A garden, how- 
 ever, of the same extent, whether a scientific garden or an orna- 
 mental flower garden, would be even more expensive to maintain 
 than good turf, while it would add nothing like as much to the beauty 
 and interest of the neighborhood and would be less directly liseful to 
 your students. 
 
 The main features of the plan have thus been sufficiently explained 
 to show how it is intended to meet the principal requirement^ 
 namely, to offer inducements which will draw about the College a 
 neighborhood of refined and elegant homes. 
 
 The second requirement of a plan was stated to be that, while pre- 
 senting domestic attractions, the improvements proposed should not 
 be of a character to draw about your college a noisy, disturbino- 
 commerce, or anything calculated to destroy the general tranquillity 
 of the neighborhood. It will be observed, that with reference to this 
 requirement, while the roads are so laid out as to afford moderately 
 
24 
 
 direct routes of communication between the different parts oi the 
 neighborhood, they would be inconvenient to be followed for any 
 purpose of business beyond the mere supplying of the wants of the 
 neighborhood itself, — that is to say, it would be easier for any man 
 wishing to convey merchandize from any point a short distance on 
 one side of your neighboi hood to a point a short diatance on the 
 other side, to go around it rather than go through it. As a further 
 protection, when it shall be found necessary, the property may be 
 enclosed and gates established at the entrances, so as to exclude from 
 the lanes whatever it may be thought undesirable to admit. This 
 precaution would probably be unnecessary, however, for many years 
 to come. 
 
 As you hare been unable to instruct me what college buildings 
 should be introduced^ I have been obliged to trust to my own 
 judgment of your probable requirements, and form a general building 
 plan accordingly, taking care, however, that the area and the shape 
 of the ground proposed to be reserved for the purpose, while fitted 
 to such an arrangement as I conjecture will be satisfactory, should 
 at the same time leave you with considerable freedom to vaiy from 
 it; 
 
 I have thought it best to assume that two considerable buildings 
 would be required at an early period of the history of the college. 
 One designed to contain its library, records, and scientific collections, 
 and therefore constructed of brick, stone and iron, and as nearly fire- 
 proof as you could afford to make it. The other to contain a general 
 hall of assembly, and a series of class-rooms, lecture rooms, and 
 rooms for the use of your faculty. 
 
 "Whenever it should be found necessary in the future, to enlarge 
 the library accommodations, the scientific collections might be re- 
 moved to a new building, to be erected especially for that purpose, 
 and the whole of the original building thus devoted to the library, or 
 if less than this should be required, a smaller building might be erected 
 for a special division, or for certain departments, of the scientific col- 
 lections, as has been done at Amherst College, a single large building 
 being there devoted to a special class of fossils, while the general 
 geological collection remains in another. Whenever, also, the ac- 
 commodations of the second building should be found insufficient, 
 a new one may be erected for the purpose of general assembly, and 
 the class-rooms be enlarged by the addition of the space occupied by 
 the assembly hall in the original building. 
 
 "With regard to dwellings for the students, my enquiries lead me 
 
to believe that the experience of eastern colleges is equally unfavor- 
 able with regard to the old plan of large barracks and commons, 
 and to the plan of trusting that the student will be properly accommo- 
 dated with board and lodging by arrangements with private families 
 or at hotels. Establishments seem likely to be finally preferred, 
 in which buildings erected by the College will be used, having 
 the general appearance of large domestic houses, and containing a 
 respectably furnished drawing-room and dining-room for the com- 
 mon use of the students, together with a sufficient number of private 
 rooms to accommodate from twenty to forty lodgers. 
 
 If a similar plan should be adopted at Berkeley, there need never 
 be any very large buildings erected there in addition to the two cen- 
 tral ones which have been proposed, and as it would be equally con- 
 venient for all purposes, as far as I can see, and much more consist- 
 ent with the character of scholarly and domestic seclusion, which it is 
 desirable should pervade the neigborhood, I should contemplate the 
 erection of no buildings for college purposes, whether large or small, 
 except as detached structures, each designed by itself, and as would 
 be found most convenient for the purpose to which it was to be devoted. 
 In other words, I would propose to adopt a picturesque, rather than 
 a formal and perfectly symmetrical arrangement, for the two reasons 
 that such an arrangement would better harmonize artistically with 
 the general character desired for the neighborhood, and that it would 
 allow any enlargement or modification of the general plan of 
 building at present adopted for the college, which may in the future 
 be found desirable. 
 
 I may observe that in the large Eastern colleges the original de- 
 sign of arranging all the buildings of a growing institution in a 
 symmetrical way has in every case proved impracticable and been 
 given up, while so far as it has been carried out it is a cause of 
 great inconvenience and perplexity to those at present concerned. 
 
 With these views, having fixed a centre with which the different 
 buildings to be hereafter erected as from time to time shall be found 
 necessary, may be expected to have convenient connection, I pro- 
 pose to reserve from sale for private residences, as much ground in 
 the vicinity of this centre as is likely to be needed for all purposes 
 by your corporation in future. 
 
 The central buildings are intended to be placed upon an arti- 
 ficial plateau at the head of the dell before described. This 
 site, while moderately elevated, yet appears slightly embayed 
 among the slopes of the hills on all sides except that toward the 
 
26 
 
 park, over which the outlook to the westward is unconfined and 
 reaches to the horizon of the ocean. The west front of this plateau 
 is designed to take the form of an architectural terrace from which 
 two broad walks between the lines of a formal avenue lead directly 
 to the head of the dell in the park. At the foot of these walks ap- 
 propriate entrances are provided from a carriage way. 
 
 The general arrangement is shown more fully in a working plan 
 drawn to a larger scale than the principal drawing. 
 
 The construction of the necessary plateau upon the site proposed 
 will not be an expensive undertaking as the working plan will show, 
 and the terrace may be finished, if desired, very plainly and cheaply. 
 At the same time the introduction of a high degree of art, at any 
 time in the future, will be practicable, in the form of statues, fount- 
 ains, and a highly decorated parapet with tile and marble pavement 
 upon the terrace, and on each side of the broad-walks, the inter- 
 mediate quadrangle and the stair and entrance ways. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 FEED. LAW OLMSTED. 
 Olmsted, Vatjx S: Co., 
 
 Landscape Arch itects. 
 
 110 Beoadway, ) 
 
 Xew Yoke, June 29th, 1S66. [ 
 
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