The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Art Of Landscape Architecture
"See Plate V., a, b, c, and d. If there is no obstacle the road should be allowed to run straight or only slightly curved, no matter what the distance. Wherever an obstacle appears it is better to make a short turn close to it than a long gradual turn for the sake of the so-called curve of beauty. The sharp turns are by far the most picturesque, especially if the road disappears with such a turn in the depth of a forest. Nor should a road running parallel with another be visible from it unless there is a distinct division of hill and valley between or a dip in the ground, for without this natural division two adjacent paths leading in the same direction appear superfluous, especially when they are on the same level, for the mind must recognize the fitness of the details before the eye will be satisfied by the entire picture."
"In a landscape of wide sweep, the form given to the grass plots especially by the enclosing roads must be carefully considered. One may entirely spoil an extensive territory by a short piece of road badly arranged. I call to mind one example which first attracted my attention to this point. There is a hill in my park which extends out conspicuously in a wide stretch of meadow, thereby apparently dividing it into two equal parts. The river flows along this entire stretch of country and a road fol- lows its course. See ground plan, e. Observe particularly the line of the ridge indicated by the shading in the plan, being the most conspicuous object in the neighbourhood, as well as the two markedly divided portions of the meadows which are overlooked by a certain building on the height. Another road leads to this building along the upper side and for the sake of convenience I required a footpath connecting the two roads which had to be at the left side leading to the castle. I first laid it down as in Plate V., e, where the ascent is easiest, this being the line it would follow in accordance with ordinary rules, yet I was never satisfied with it and although I changed the line ten times, the path persisted in spoiling the harmony of the view until it finally occurred to me that since the hill once for all conspicuously divided the prospect in two almost symmetrical portions, the path interrupting the stretch of meadow would have to follow the same direction so as not to destroy the harmony, or, if I may say so, the balance of the picture; for there is a certain kind of undefined, hidden symmetry in which there is no contradiction whatever, but which must be evident in every expanded arrangement of this kind, in order to produce a satisfactory effect."
