Walled streets

摘要

There was a time when most Americans agreed with Robert Frost that "Something there is that doesn't love a wall." But the trend now is to echo the poet's neighbor-an old-fashioned fellow who believed that "Good fences make good neighbors." Loftus Jestin, an English professor and wall builder from Farmington, Conn., is convinced that in his small town, with houses built close to one another, "fences lead to more amicable relations." Besides seeking privacy and security, customers crave barriers to keep pets and children in, and to provide what stonemason Jack Mandel of Cabin John, Md., calls "a high-impact, upfront statement of old-world craftsmanship."