Landscape Information
Surrounded on three sides by Fahnestock State Park in the Hudson Highlands, this topographically varied garden measures approximately fifteen acres. After Anne Cabot inherited the wooded, rocky hilltop in the late 1950s she and her husband, Francis (Frank) developed it as a country retreat. They established alpine and flower gardens and contracted architect George Hickey to design a French-inspired residence (1958) at the site’s eastern end. Collaborating soon after with nurseryman Rex Murfitt, they established a commercial, alpine plant nursery (1960–1966) on the grounds. Murfitt laid out several raised beds near the potting shed.
In the 1970s the Cabots hired horticulturist Sara Faust and stone mason Cono Reale to make further improvements, including two naturalistic ponds east and west of the potting shed. The couple then engaged British horticulturist Caroline Burgess in 1984 to manage the site. It opened to the public in 1992.
Today, the site is accessed by a curvilinear drive through a dense oak woodland. From the circular parking area, a boardwalk leads to an interpretive center (Janko Rasic Architects, 2018) and the potting shed. To the south, a lawn—planted with birch trees and cherry and magnolia specimens—slopes toward the eastern pond, which is edged by a cruciform-shaped conservatory (1997). A maple-and-fern allée leads east to the residence, intersecting with a crushed-stone drive. Nestled between the allée and a stable is a quincunx-patterned, fenced flower-and-vegetable garden (1959); beyond the stable stand a spruce grove and wisteria-draped, T-shaped pergola surrounded by flower beds. Pastures extend west, affording sweeping borrowed views of the mountains.
The western pond is framed by rock ledges, designed by Cono, and planted with alpine species and dwarf conifers. A stone slab bridge spans the water, forming an isthmus and visually dividing the pond. At its southern shore a pavilion (also adorned by wisteria) leads to thickly planted groves of dawn redwood and bamboo.
