Bayfordbury, near Hertford; W. R. Baker, Esq.-Sept. 28. This is a splendid place, the lawn of which, and the park scenery beyond, have been laid out with as exquisite taste, on a large scale, as the lawn at Theobalds is on a small one. We have not seen two places so much to our mind in the course of the summer. The house is in a commanding situation, in a park at Bayfordbury, which probably contains near 1000 acres; and in the vicinity of the house the trees and shrubs are arranged in a manner which leaves scarcely any thing to be wished for. The house itself has nothing to recommend it in point of architecture, but it is grand and imposing by its magnitude, and most commodious and convenient by the number, arrangement, and ample size of the rooms. The principal dining-room and the library are remarkably well proportioned, and the walls of the former are covered by a unique collection of portraits of the members of the Kit-cat Club. The bed-rooms are arranged in three distinct divisions, each division having a well-lighted central passage, as an axis. The division on one wing over the kitchen offices contains all the family apartments, nurseries, &c.; that in the opposite wing, for bachelors and gentlemen without families; and that in the centre for strangers with families, and stranger ladies. The principal and servants' stairs to each of these divisions are quite distinct. All the offices and servants' rooms are above ground, which gives the windows of the living-rooms a commanding view over the park, both on the entrance and lawn front, without which, indeed, there can be no grandeur of effect. The living-rooms on the lawn side open under a deep central portico; and to the right and left is a broad balcony, which extends the whole length of the living-rooms, and descends to the architectural flower-garden at each end by a flight of steps. The descent from the central portico is to a broad terrace walk, between which and the house is the architectural flower-garden just mentioned. But, lest it should appear tedious to continue a description which must fail to give an idea of the beauty and magnificence of the place, we shall conclude by observing that the situation of the house, its general mass, and the position of the flower-garden, remind us of Stowe; but that the lawn and its treatment at Bayfordbury are altogether superior.
