The two windows told the history of The Hollies at a glance.

The little one had served the needs of a "best" room for several generations of Sussex yeomen.

Then had come some iconoclast who hewed a big rectangle through the solid stone-work, converted the oak-panelled apartment into a most comfortable dining-room, built a new wing with a gable, changed a farm-yard into a flower-bordered lawn, and generally played havoc with Georgian utility while carrying out a determined scheme of landscape gardening.
Happily, the wrecker was content to let well enough alone after enlarging the house, laying turf, and planting shrubs and flowers.

He found The Hollies a ramshackle place, and left it even more so, but with a new note of artistry and several unexpectedly charming vistas.

Thus, the big double window opened straight into an irregular garden which merged insensibly into a sloping lawn bounded by a river-pool.