Trade Secrets 2018: Wethersfield Garden

In 1998, Henry Hope Reed commented about the Wethersfield Garden: "The inspiration is grand, the tradition noble, and the vision all-seeing; yet, with all, no detail has been neglected. . . Wethersfield Garden is the offspring of wise, patient, and loving solicitude of a master." These words by the noted architecture historian describe both the grandeur and simplicity that is Wethersfield. Described as "the finest classical garden in the United States built in the second half of the twentieth century," it is the creative child of Bryan Lynch, Evelyn Poehler, and Chauncey Stillman.

The garden was started in the 1940's on the north side of the house when landscape architect, Bryan J. Lynch (1907-1986), and Mr. Stillman created the Inner Garden. This inner garden differs in style from the rest of the garden as it is in the 19th Century English style. The remainder off the Formal Garden and Wilderness Garden were created over a 25-year period beginning in 1947 when Mr. Stillman hired landscape architect, Evelyn N. Poehler (1914-1999). This collaboration resulted in a formal garden, classical in style, "that draws visitors through room like enclosures and along green corridors to secret recesses and elevated lookouts." The garden has changed and aged since its conception, but thanks to the well-thought out planning off Poehler and the dedication of Wethersfield's gardeners, the garden remains a destination that should not be missed. 

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