Discover the peace and tranquility these stunning gardens in Tyringham, Massachusetts, which combine several natural features – including a rushing stream, a rounded knoll, and rising flank meadows – into an ordered arrangement of both formal and informal beauty.
Fees: FREE.
Telephone: 413-298-3239
E-mail: westregion@ttor.org
Ashintully (Gaelic meaning “on the brow of the hill”) was the name given to the original 1,000-acre estate assembled in the early 20th century by Egyptologist and two-time state representative, Robb de Peyster Tytus from three farms in Tyringham and additional land in Otis.
On a hill overlooking the southern end of Tyringham Valley, Tytus built between 1910-1912 a white, Georgian-style mansion which came to be known as the Marble Palace. Its main façade featured four Doric columns and was spanned by thirteen window bays; its interior comprised thirty-five rooms, ten baths, and fifteen fireplaces (the Marble Palace was destroyed by fire on April 20, 1952; only the front terrace, foundation, and four Doric columns remain today). In 1913, Tytus died at Saranac Lake, New York, leaving his wife, Grace, and two daughters, Mildred and Victoria. One year later, Mrs. Tytus married John S. McLennan, a Canadian senator, newspaper owner, and historian. She gave birth in 1915 to one child, John Jr., before subsequently being divorced.
In 1937, John McLennan (Jr.) acquired the estate, where he had spent all his childhood summers. He later moved into the farmhouse at the bottom of the hill, where he lived the rest of his life, renovating the nearby barn into a music studio. John McLennan became an accomplished composer of contemporary music, including chamber and orchestral music and pieces for piano and organ, and, in 1985, won an American Academy of Arts and Letters music award. John McLennan created, over the course of thirty years, Ashintully Gardens.
The gardens blend several natural features – a rushing stream, native deciduous trees, a rounded knoll, and rising flanking meadows – into an ordered arrangement with both formal and informal beauty. Garden features include the Fountain Pond, Pine Park, Rams Head Terrace, Bowling Green, Regency Bridge, and Trellis Triptych. Urns, columns, and statuary ornament the garden, while foot bridges, foot paths, stone stairs, and grassy terraces connect various parts of the garden. In 1997, Ashintully Gardens received the H. Hollis Hunnewell Medal, established in 1870 by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society to recognize gardens of country residences embellished with rare and desirable ornamental trees and shrubs.
