The Garden Conservancy has announced plans to preserve the garden at Hollister House, a 25-acr
e site in Washington, Connecticut. (Litchfield County) The property, owned by George Schoellkopf, has been on the organization's annual Open Days program, which began in 1995, every year except one. Hollister House is only the second Open Days private garden that has been designated for preservation in perpetuity.
Bill Noble, GC's director of preservation projects, described the Schoellkopf garden as seductive and said it's also a true American garden: "There is a real sense of place and history, even though the inspiration is English," he said. "It's New England in materials, architecture, scale, and views to fields and hillsides...The inspiration may have come from Sissinghurst, but George understands how Sackville-West's principles apply to Connecticut."
The two-acre formal garden is divided into separate garden rooms that are formed by yew hedges, brick walls, and fieldstone. Plantings are informal, spilling over the edges of paving materials, over the walls and down inclines. Bold colors predominate, along with many unusual plants.
(photo: Garden Conservancy)