And the building thereof.  There was a pergola at Esperanza at the turn of the last century.  It had square white pillars, echoing the porches, and appears to have had few vines.  It had as a south focal point the bust of the faun; as such it was more of a structural ornament as opposed to a structure built for the vines first.  It didn’t last long, it was probably built around 1900 and seems to have vanished by 1930.  One of its main uses was in the enactment of tableaux scenes generally of a vaguely classical theme.*

We are contemplating a new pergola on the same location. However, this one is going to be dual purpose: both growing grapes and creating a structural element.  Figuring out how to make it visually work from all angles: the south lawn, the driveway entrance, the house, and built so that it can take the vines is a bit of project.  Part of the difficulty is the house’s outward looking architecture: as mentioned previously the house looks to its surroundings, its rooms are designed to immediately connect to the outdoors and the porches blend into the lawn.  This means that structural elements outside have to work with the house even when they are not physically connected to the house.  Their style must compliment the house’s style.  Sketches have ensued, as has a small forest of poles to determine which edge lines up with which other edge.  I think Photoshop may become involved…

In addition to space for grapes, the pergola will also add an edge to the south lawn, so that beyond it the lawn can gracefully transition to the woods through a bit of meadow grass.  The area has a tendency towards some of the wild flowers already: paintbrush, pussytoes, violets, bluets, blue-eyed grass, wild dianthus, wild geranium, wood sedge, etc. are all present.  But most of the south lawn is formal and structured and simply stopping regular mowing at an arbitrary line looks peculiar.  Yes, shrinking the lawn is a goal too!  Along with the pergola, a replacement for the pear tree will also be planted. 

Assuming we make the transition from planning to reality…always the hard part!

*It is interesting to note that the word ‘pergola’ doesn’t enter the English language until the 17th century.  It is slightly different from the word ‘arbor’ from Middle English.  They essentially mean the same thing; but arbor’s etymological roots give greater weight to the vines or trees whereas pergola, coming from the Italian word for a projecting roof, gives greater emphasis to the structure.  You can create an arbor out of trained living vegetation, you can’t create a pergola.  So, if the vines become more important than the structure (which they will) it should be an arbor, unlike the c.1900 one which was always a pergola. 

*I could write quite the post on the tableaux, a form of entertainment that has vanished quite completely from today’s culture.