The approach to and from the garden door of the house is from the central hallway. Adjacent is an area of natural flat stones, laid sometime after the War of 1812 bombardment that damaged the house. This stone area is the site for a summer table and umbrella. Repeating the Chinese feeling in the garden is an ornate red railing next to an area of chrysanthemums. The stone-lined pit beneath it is rumored to have been the hiding place for Captain Palmer's share of privateer's bounty taken during the American Revolution. The Wall Street entrance is a stone stairwell. Topping it, a low red wooden fence supports a lengthy climbing rose named 'White Dawn'.