Grotto

" The arbor's design is based on a sixteenth-century arbor design by French architect Jacques Androuet du Cerceau. Under the shade of the wisteria roof, water pours from the mouth of a lead river god into a pool decorated with lead cattails. On the wall to the south is an inscription from Dante."

-Dumbarton Oaks Website

It is so bleeding hot. That white glare filtering through the arbor's walls is the sun coming to get us, me and The Prince and Carol gasping like landed fish at the unseen end of the pond.  Great idea to trollop about Dumbarton Oaks on (yet another) sweltering summer afternoon. They said it would rain.

I proclaim that I would like something like this under the back porch. As the porch has a floor, we can't have vine covered barrel arches overhead (and God forbid more wisteria), but we do have lovely beams and the walls are brick, and there's a similar greenish glow from the garden that's reflected in the French doors that lead to the home's grotto level (as I'd like to think of it).  There could be a fountain mounted on the far wall that would spout into a somewhat smaller pool and maybe we could fit a little bistro table and chairs? 

Wine, cheese, some grapes maybe...

 

I skipped downstairs with my coffee this morning to romance the notion and found that the Prince has to move a few things before we can get started. I had to move a few things to get this shot. There is no void that that man can't fill.