Spring Comes to Town

With the weather at last warming up in the Delaware valley it seems that spring has finally come to town.

Here April showers bring rain boots and flowers.

Pink cherry blossoms add an extra touch of romance to white columned porches.

Cluster of sunny daffodils brighten somber brick and Victorian woodwork.

Tulips search for the sun through antique wrought iron fences.

And waves of fallen petals drift across sidewalks.

Sweeping weeping cherry tree branches have a lace-like effect against the brick façade behind them.

An elegant window box planter decorated with curly willow branches.

Colorful fish shaped Japanese windsocks known as Koinobori decorate the window boxes.

Bright clusters of tulips almost resemble Easter eggs scattered around the garden.

This lush saucer magnolia looks like a pink cloud complete with a fairy tale turret coming out of the top.

What better place to take in the pleasures of the season than a cozy wicker chair on a tall shady porch?

Then again we’ve always been partial to the well-weathered seat of an old Adirondack chair.

Photos by KS&D.

A Garden City

When we took you on a tour of Lambertville, New Jersey’s historic homes last winter the bare trees were ideal for showcasing the unique architectural treasures, now with summer in full swing it’s the perfect time to see how creative gardeners use plants and flowers to transform this enclave of historic houses into a garden city.

One of the most unique examples of creative landscaping in town has to be the little graveled forecourt in front of this classic American Foursquare currently on the market for $1.65 million. Centered on a small flowerbed and surrounded by flowering bushes this simple yet stately treatment effectively turns a small yard into a grand entrance.

The deep front porch of this gracious ivy covered red brick mansion is nearly obscured with masses of flowers while ivy creeping up the side of the house further ties it to the site.

This grand red brick Colonial Revival house built in 1909 enjoys one of the largest gardens in town set behind an antique wrought iron fence.

A closer look shows the scrollwork detail under a shower of roses. Many houses here are fortunate enough to still be surrounded by original nineteenth century wrought or cast iron fences.

Here one of those beautiful antique cast iron fences protects a shady columned veranda from the street.

No discussion of fences would be complete without the classic white picket, and what could be more charming than a wild tangle of daisies poking through a weathered white picket fence.

This large mound of cheerful pink flowers compliments the red brick Victorian façade behind them.

Most properties in town have limited outdoor space so it’s always interesting to see the creative ways people utilize what space they do have, such as the lush planting alongside this porch.

Window boxes are a popular solution for those looking to add some green to their homes. This pretty one also incorporates the colors of the houses color scheme.

Here window boxes and large terra cotta pots holding geraniums and topiaries decorate the front of a townhouse.

This early brick townhouse sports some very elaborate window boxes dramatically finished of with pussy willow branches.

A sliver between this townhouse and the sidewalk was just enough space for a cluster of bamboo and some other interesting plants in various shades of green that look great against the gray painted brick

Not sure how the fantastic Victorian turret on this corner house thick with vegetation managed to escape the tower theme in our previous post.

Speaking of thick vegetation look at the brimming pots, overflowing planters, and trailing vines on this charming Victorian glassed porch.

Just around the corner is a private jungle in this shady sculpture filled garden.

The front of the woman’s club mentioned in the previous post is thickly planted around a wide tree trunk, giving a great example of how to garden in a small space.

A detail of old paneled shutters on the Victorian era clubhouse with flowers blooming against the buildings peachy color scheme. 

Right next door is Mary E. Sheridan Park, a beautifully maintained public space, almost more garden than park.

The park’s gazebo all swaged in festive bunting and ready for a mid-summer night concert.

Photos by KS&D.

Glynallyn Mansion in May

We recently had the pleasure of attending ‘Mansion in May’ a designer showhouse and gardens organized by The Women’s Association of Morristown Medical Center.

While interior photography wasn’t permitted the real design star of this showhouse has to be Glynallyn itself, the English Tudor Revival castle built between 1913 and 1917 by architect Charles I. Berg for the George Marshall Allen family.

The grand entrance portal as well as other elements where copied from Compton Wynyates in Warwickshire England. A sixteenth century castle visited by King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I. A close look at the masonry details reveals the irregular handmade bricks used to impart a sense of age.

The elaborate brickwork patterns on the mansion’s sixteen different chimneys were also copied from the English castle. The attention to detail even extends to the roof where antiqued slates of uneven thickness were purposely designed to appear centuries old.

The massive stained glass window at the center of the façade also replicated from Compton Wynyates, lights the soaring Great Hall within, where a rolling wall panel opens to reveal a secret staircase of uneven stones leading down to a vaulted stone dungeon.

The estate’s 7.5 acres have been beautifully landscaped with a number of lush garden spaces that have an almost “Alice In Wonderland’ like effect against the Tudor architecture.

This charming water feature stands in the gardens behind the house overlooking the deep wooden glen.
 

Here another elegant water feature trickles at the center of a deep grotto-like garden from the 1920’s restored for the showhouse after years of neglect.

Water originally played an even bigger role in the garden design of Glynallyn, which once featured a moat complete with bridges and lushly landscaped island gardens.

A period photo from a 1922 Harpers Bazaar article shows lily pads floating in the moat surrounding the entrance to a romantic gothic cloister.

Extending along one side of the rear terrace here is the same dramatic cloister seen today with the moat filled in long ago.

On the other side of the cloister a knight stands guard next to an entrance of leaded stained glass.

The house features endless banks of leaded stained glass windows, many of which were purposely broken and repaired to again impart a sense of age. The same reason stucco between the half timbers was purposely chipped off in some corners exposing the brick beneath.

One of the finest windows on the house has to be this intricately carved two-story stone bay overlooking the terrace and glen.

Inside the 32,000 square foot manor a veritable army of interior designers and artists have created 41 inspiring environments from the aforementioned dungeon turned jazz club to Mr. Allen’s onetime photography studio tucked in the attic rafters.

The showhouse is open throughout the month of May and is a rare opportunity to experience one of Morristown's last surviving Gilded Age mansions never before opened for public tours all while supporting a worthy cause. And if you should find yourself in the market this finely crafted castle is currently for sale at the bargain price of 5.7 million.

Photos by KS&D.

The Other Newport Mansions

It’s been ages since we last posted a favorite book, and with summer now officially underway it seems the perfect time to steal away to one of the country’s most extravagant watering holes.


Blessed with a wealth of architecture, history, natural beauty, and well…wealth, Newport, Rhode Island has always fascinated. While there are countless books dedicated to the palatial summer “cottages” now preserved as historic house museums, “Private Newport at Home and in the Garden” by Bettie Bearden Pardee features many private estates never before seen by the public. The photography of Mick Hales beautifully captures the interiors, gardens, and stunning natural vistas of Newport, bringing to life a world of exquisitely appointed homes among expertly maintained gardens.


While less opulent than Vanderbilt showplaces like The Breakers and Marble House, the homes featured here even include some actual cottages, like this charming shingled cape overlooking the sea, where an elegant Wedgwood inset mantel is surrounded by framed family photos, fine antiques, and stacks of books and albums. With the fresh salty breeze blowing in off the ocean what better place to pass a summer afternoon?

Secret Garden

Tucked away on Long Island’s Gold Coast, the enclave immortalized by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby, a most unusual garden lies forgotten in the woods of a large estate.


The gardens most unique feature is a tiny Tudor house situated at its heart behind which hides a walled garden designed especially for the enjoyment of birds. Built to resemble a fairytale witches cottage, this romantic folly was built in 1917 by Mrs. Payne Whitney at Greentree the family’s country estate to serve as a private place for reading and quiet contemplation. To give a sense of age the masonry exterior incorporates beams from old Long Island barns and a deliberately sagging roof of multicolored slate specially laid to encourage the growth of moss. A candle fixture framed in the tiny window above the Tudor door romantically illuminates the entryway.


The cottage was named Cromwell House for it contains an actual Tudor room imported from a house in Gloucestershire, England believed to have once been the bedchamber of Oliver Cromwell. Upon entering the visitor is greeted by a large multi-paned window looking into the walled bird garden, the only entrance to which lies through an antique iron door tucked away on the side of the house. Looking out from this cozy paneled room the Whitney's and their guests could view the wild birds without disturbing them.


The bird garden is surrounded by nine-foot high walls crawling with wild grapevine and features a raised stage-like area at the far end. The garden is centered on a birdbath surrounded by formal paths and planted with shrubs specially selected to attract birds. Today the estate is preserved by the Greentree Foundation which has hosted high level UN-led meetings on the property as Cromwell House and its bird garden sit nearly forgotten in a copse of trees just beyond the tennis court.

Photos from House and Gardens Book of Houses.