Formed of hornbeam and privet, they seem at first glance to be fairly familiar examples of traditional landscaping.

WSJ: Modern Pastoral

The hornbeam room, viewed from the house, looks like a classic walled enclosure a hedged room of the type one finds in patrician gardens like Wethersfield in Amenia, New York, or Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.

WSJ: Modern Pastoral

The most significant feature of Nevins's garden at Middlefield is the hornbeam room, entered as one moves up a flight of stone-and-grass steps toward a bench set on axis with what is the beating heart of any country house in summer, the well-used and much-loved screened porch.

WSJ: Modern Pastoral