“With their tremendous sense of wonder – they just get it.”Įuropean and Asians also come in droves. “Kids especially love it here,” says current landscape curator, Kate Kerin. There are winding streams and Lotus pools, grottos and rock gardens. Collins used large slabs of rocks he found around as “punctuation marks” and “signposts” on trails and within groves of trees. The landscape is both playful and beguiling – with water features and amazements at every turn. Rather than drawing the home’s water from a well, for example, he installed a pump to source it from the “20,000 year old puddle” at the center of the 185-acre property. Lester Collins created a variety of gardens in concert with ecosystems long before the current trend of sustainable agriculture. Though his projects ranged from the National Zoo in DC to the City of Roanoke VA, after the death of his employers, Collins lived on and off in Millbrook at the lakeside cottage and continued his work at Innisfree until his own death in 1993. In 2019, by virtue of its celebrated landscape designer, Innisfree was listed on the US National Register of Historic Places.Ĭollins grew up in Morristown NJ on a fruit “Farm of Common Sense.” He learned his way around dirt and plants from an early age. In the 1930’s, Walter and Marion Beck hired the innovative landscape architect, Lester Collins, to design this stunning “Cup Garden” around their small lake. Things to Do in Northern Dutchess County NY: Millbrook, Millerton, Pine Plains, and Amenia
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |