Third Places in American Life Why do you have a lawn? No, seriously. Why do you want to have this greensward that you must mow, weed manually or chemically , water even in our damp climate , and leave generally unused? The wealthy ruling class in England before was generally dependent on their income from the land. They would collect rents from peasants who worked the land but did not own it. The landlord lived in a large fine house somewhere on his own property, with a clear separation between his household and the surrounding farmers.
But the grounds of the house, while they might be well-tended by a gardener, were part of a large working agricultural enterprise. Therefore, large sweeps of land near the house were kept as meadows, with herds of sheep or goats keeping them well-cropped.
As the idle rich sought more ways to amuse themselves, this close-cut grass began to be used for various functions. Croquet and tennis, when they were imported from France, were fairly easy to situate on a level stretch of lawn. Garden parties took place on tables and chairs set up by servants on the lawn. One of the hallmarks of a great house, as you approached it from the road, was the broad lawn on either side of the trees planted to line the long sweeping driveway. Yes, there were sheep or goats on the grass -- there were sheep and goats everywhere in those days -- but you didn't think of it anymore as a "pasture.
Skip a century. Wealthy Americans deliberately imitated those English country houses when they built their estates along the Hudson or on Long Island. They had no land tenants; they were not part of an agricultural enterprise.
These "estates" existed to house the wealthy family and to show anyone who might come to visit that here dwelt a great man. Of course they had a lawn -- complete with sheep -- and tennis, and croquet, and whatever else it took to imitate the real upper class in England.
