Stockbridge, Massachusetts is the site of a three garden tour on Sunday, July 25 sponsored by The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program. Admission to each garden is $5, and tickets are not needed. For complete information log on to www.gardenconservancy.org.
Garden of 1826 Pease-Lincoln House, 82 East Main Street (Route 102)
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
A 1929 plan by sculptor Daniel Chester French divided these three acres into several sections. The west terrace features a fountain by French and a latticed folly mirroring artist Richard Haas’ trompe l’oeil in the summer porch. An homage to Marcel Duchamp may also be noted. Steps through the border gardens lead to a curving path of marble squares edging the central lawn which lead the visitor to the grape arbor and goldfish pond with pineapple fountain. A grass path beyond, lined with Thalictrum and heritage roses, leads to a hedge-flanked gate. To the left are a kitchen garden, raspberries, and a cutting garden; to the right, a small lily pond draining to the Housatonic River. A woodland path, starting at the screened tea house, returns to the central lawn and completes the circuit.
Directions:
From Massachusetts Turnpike, take Lee Exit and go south on Route 102, 6 miles to site. From in town and Red Lion Inn, drive north on Main Street, bear right at Route 102 and look for a blue picket fence 300 feet long on right.
From Lenox, go south on Route 7 and turn sharp left at junction with Route 102. Park at Berkshire Theatre Festival (Berkshire Playhouse). After parking, cross East Main Street carefully and enter property. Note White Whale (Moby Dick) atop barn; paint scheme by Andrew Jackson Davis.
Brown Garden, 17 Prospect Hill Road, Stockbridge, Massachusetts
The house, built in 1823, has a plant-filled porch overlooking the gardens and is framed by a copper beech tree estimated to be 150 years old. The property consists of twenty-five acres, and the gardens, in development since 1980, are divided into three areas. The walled garden is designed not to reveal open spaces and is dominated by perennials planted around a fountain. A hosta arboretum is featured in the north section of the gardens. Evergreens and other trees frame the pool while summer annuals abound.
Directions:
At intersection of Routes 7 and 102, go north from The Red Lion Inn. Go past town tennis courts and proceed 1.5 miles. Parking is provided before Prospect Hill Road and continues over turnpike on left.
Fitzpatrick’s Hillhome, Stockbridge, Massachusetts (Please Note: This garden is open from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm only)
Hillhome, a historic and distinguished Stockbridge estate, was designed in 1918 by a protégé of Charles F. McKim who was known for the design of private country houses and U.S. diplomatic offices abroad. Its gardens, created from 1933 to 1935 by the well-known landscape architect, Prentiss French, nephew of the sculptor Daniel Chester French, set off an impressive view of the Berkshire Hills. Leading to a long stone-paved and grass terrace is a heavy wooden garden door. At the northern end of the terrace stands a three-sided stone architectural structure resembling an arched ruin and created by moving an old mill, stone by stone, from West Stockbridge. This folly continues to provide a quiet and secluded space from which to enjoy the expansive views beyond. French made extensive use of massive stone retaining walls, thereby creating dramatic terraces in the steep hillside. Today, the walls contain charming alpine plants. Not to compete however with the view, the genius loci of the property, are the generally more restrained plantings and perennial borders. Be sure to visit the twenty-foot waterfall which splashes through serpentine paths leading down to an iris-bordered lily pond (below). You will reach it through a small secret garden at the southern end of the main terrace. In 1949, Hillhome was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Today, French’s original design remains largely intact.
