The French termpatte d'oie (literally "goose foot", in English sometimes referred to as a "crow's foot"[1]) describes a design whereby three, four, or five or more straight roads or paths radiate out from a central point, so called from its resemblance to a goose's foot.[2]
The first use of the term dates from 1624, and the design became common inFrench gardens andEnglish gardens of the late 17th century.[3] Typically it focused on the entrance front of a house, and the road on its central axis continued as the entrance drive.[3] The idea for thepatte d'oie may have originated in town planning schemes where roads converged onto a single space or feature, such as thePiazza del Popolo inRome.[4]
It is often a feature of site plans for the grander Frenchchâteaux of the 17th and 18th centuries, in which the roads converge on an important element of the central axis. Examples include theChâteau de Richelieu (c. 1639), theChâteau de Vaux-le-Vicomte (c. 1660), and theChâteau de Versailles (c. 1664). The château ofRichelieu had three roads converging on a 300-ft. circle directly in front of the entrance gate.[5] Vaux and Versailles each had designs for twopattes d'oie, one focused on the entrance forecourt, and the other, on a far part of the garden.[6]
