Chase Garden Orting, WA

The most striking thing about Washington State’s Mount Rainier is its singularity. It is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States. In addition to that distinction, it is topographically isolated. Basically, as flying over it reveals, it sticks up in the middle of nowhere, and has no similar peaks near it.

The Chase Garden, a passion project of Emmott and Ione Chase, is also prominent and remote. It sits in the foothills outside Orting, WA, and, on clear days, has an amazing view of its volcanic neighbor some miles distant. It takes some work to get to the garden—and the “Volcano Evacuation Route” signs along the way will make you think deer aren’t the worst threats to gardens after all.

The mountain, and the vistas and plant-life surrounding it, inspired the Chases who worked with landscape architect Rex Zumwalt to design the garden; then built and planted it themselves, along with doing all the finish work on their new, now classic mid-century, home.

The garden is often called one of the finest in the “Pacific Northwest” style. That means that its design doesn’t get in nature’s way and artfully combines midcentury and Japanese design. Instead, it highlights the beauty of the region. It works with and adapts to the environment around it, connecting the outdoors to interior living space while being sensitive to both. Its plants, rock, and water integrate seamlessly into the landscape.

Thirty-three years after the garden’s design was created, the Chases came to the Garden Conservancy for help in making the garden an asset to the community at large. The Conservancy accepted a conservation easement on the property and a “friends group” was started. The Conservancy, in an unusual move, took over all aspects of direct management of the garden and its small staff. The Chases lived well into their nineties. When they passed, ownership of the property was left to the Garden Conservancy, with Chases’ wishes to make the garden public. It was the first and only time the organization was in the position of owning a garden that it helped to preserve.

For multiple reasons the ownership and management position became untenable, and efforts to collaborate with local nonprofits, which were deemed essential to the ongoing success of the garden, did not lead to a sustainable long-term solution. The difficult decision to sell the property was made, but not before the conservation easement, under which the new owners took title, was strengthened nd expanded. Extensive documentation work was also initiated to preserve the legacy and story of Emmott, Ione, and their garden.

Like all of the Conservancy’s projects, many component details must align, especially financial resources and context- and an army of passionate, dedicated volunteers, organizations, and stakeholders are necessary to make things go. All situations have their challenges, and some are more challenging than others.

Sometimes a story of prominence and isolation ends in a way not anticipated. In a unique twist the Chase Garden went from private, to public, to private—but it has been saved, with measures in place to ensure its future. It is good hands. It is once again locally owned, by people enthusiastic about both the historic garden they care for and about its story. It is open to the public at least twice a year.

Kings’s Garden Ticonderoga, NY

The Pell family estate is located north of Fort Ticonderoga, a large eighteenth-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in northern New York State. In 1921, Sarah Pell undertook reconstruction of the gardens. She hired Marian Cruger Coffin, one of the most famous American landscape architects of the period. In 1995, the gardens were restored and later opened for public visitation; they are known as the King’s Garden. The Garden Conservancy assisted with the garden restoration, including the drafting of a master plan and several letter of support for grants to help fund the restoration.

Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum Knoxville, TN

In 2001, after a group of local citizens bought the property and were unsure of next steps, the newly-hired executive director reached out to the Garden Conservancy for advice. In collaboration with the Knoxville Botanical Garden board, the Garden Conservancy prepared a program plan, which detailed recommended phases for garden restoration, public access, visitor services, and educational programming. In 2006, the garden asked for Garden Conservancy assistance in utilizing a master plan, identifying staffing needs, and identifying funding sources.

Kruckeberg Botanic Garden Shoreline, WA

Currently a private residence, this botanic garden is open to the public at designated hours which alternate seasonally. In 1998, the family formed a foundation to preserve the garden and, in 2003, it received an easement to preserve the garden in perpetuity, with advice from the Garden Conservancy. Kruckeberg is a member of the Garden Conservancy Northwest Network (GCNN).

Ladew Topiary Gardens Monkton, MD

The gardens were established in the 1930s by socialite and huntsman Harvey S. Ladew, who, in 1929, had bought a 250-acre farm to build his estate. In 1993, the Garden Conservancy met with the Board and Garden Committee of Ladew to discuss ways in which they might assist them with the ongoing preservation of the garden. Long-term planning and maintenance as well as capital needs were discussed as areas of possible collaboration.

Lanark / Alabama Nature Center Millbrook, AL

Lanark, which has been the headquarters of the Alabama Wildlife

Federation (AWF) since 2003, is the former home of Isabel and Wiley Hill, who moved to Lanark as newlyweds in 1948. The gardens at Lanark, covering more than 30 acres, represent a lifelong labor of love by the Hills. In the late 1990s, the Garden Conservancy provided technical support, including extensive information on conservation easements. When Isabel Hill died, in 2001, it had already been established that the property would become a conservation education center for the state and AWF headquarters.

Les Quatre Vents – La Malbaie, Quebec

Les Jardins de Quatre-Vents, or the “Garden of the Four Winds,” is the second, major personal garden created by Frank Cabot, founder of the Garden Conservancy. The garden is spread over twenty lush acres above the St. Lawrence River, about 90 miles north of Quebec City. It is a supporting organization of the Garden Conservancy.

Linwood Gardens Linwood, NY

A private garden in the farmlands of New York State’s Genesee Valley, the original garden at Linwood was designed in the early 1900s with an Arts and Crafts style summerhouse, walled gardens, pools, and fountains. The Garden Conservancy provided technical assistance to Linwood in the late 1990s, at which time a Friends group was established. In 2002, Garden Conservancy preservation staff participated in a roundtable discussion focused on preservation issues at Linwood Gardens.

LongHouse Reserve East Hampton, NY

A sixteen-acre property created by internationally acclaimed textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen, LongHouse Reserve is a remarkable integration of nature, art, and design. In 2011, LongHouse was designated the first Affiliate Garden of the Garden Conservancy. That same year, the Conservancy completed a garden assessment and implemented a garden maintenance plan.

Longue Vue House & Gardens – New Orleans, LA

As a National Historic Landmark, Longue Vue House & Gardens has beautifully preserved and kept their gardens for public enjoyment for many years. In 2006, the New York Botanical Garden and the Garden Conservancy raised $50,000 and sent a team of volunteers to assist in recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina. In addition to fundraising, the Garden Conservancy provided technical assistance, as well as help with program development, creation of a long-term maintenance plan, and identification of ways in which

Longue Vue could attract national attention to their historically significant gardens and the partnership that was formed around the renewal of the historic tree canopy. The Conservancy funded a landscape renewal plan and placed a Marco Polo Stufano Fellow-in-residence to implement initial phases of the restoration and reclaim the original design brilliance.

Los Pablanos Albuquerque, NM

Los Pablanos is the former home of politicians Albert and Ruth Simms, who sold the property to the Rembe family in the mid1970s. In 1998, the family expressed an interest in preservation and development after an assessment by the Garden Conservancy. A proposal was given to the family so as to realize some of the property while preserving the most historically significant features of the landscape. Today, Los Pablanos is an inn, organic farm and apothecary.

Lotusland Montecito, CA

Ganna Walska Lotusland is a nonprofit botanical garden near Santa Barbara, California. Madame Ganna Walska, a well-known Polish opera singer and socialite, purchased the estate in 1941 and spent the next 43 years creating Lotusland. The spectacular collections of exotic plants throughout the 37-acre property are a very personal expression of Walska’s penchant for the dramatic, the unexpected, and the whimsical. In the early 1990s, the Garden Conservancy assisted Lotusland’s trustees in their efforts to open the garden to the public.

Lovelace Residence Montecito, CA

Today known as the Harold S. Gladwin Residence, this estate is the former home of Jon B. and Lillian Lovelace. From 2013 to 2014, the Garden Conservancy provided a feasibility study outline and a list of potential consultants for garden restoration. The Conservancy also suggested that they could possibly oversee, review, and advise on the project, until it was revealed that the owner’s youngest son had an interest in the property. He rebuilt it in 2016. Lovelace sustained significant damage from the 2017 fire season and subsequent mudslides in drought-stressed California.

Lyman Estate (a/k/a The Vale) Waltham, MA

The Lyman Estate, also known as The Vale, is a historic country house located in Waltham, MA. It is now owned by the nonprofit Historic New England organization. The estate was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 for its architecture and for its landscape design, which is remarkably rare for having retained much of its original eighteenth-century character. The Garden Conservancy provided technical assistance to the Lyman Estate from 1994-1996, specifically the development of a Friends group and an assessment of trees and shrubs on the property.

Madoo Sagaponack, NY

Over the last 40 years, artist and writer Robert Dash has established a green, organic encyclopedia of gardening on two acres of land, featuring Tudor, High Renaissance, early Greek, as well as Orienta,l garden influences. In the early 1990s, the Garden Conservancy helped Madoo launch the Madoo Conservancy, a nonprofit foundation with a focus on study, preservation, and enhancement of Madoo. At the urging of the Garden Conservancy, the Madoo Conservancy became an independent nonprofit organization in 1994.

Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center

Garrison, NY

Manitoga is the house, studio, and 75-acre woodland landscape of mid-century designer Russel Wright (1904-1976). It is a National Historic Landmark, an Affiliate Site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and a World Monuments Fund Watch Site. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Garden Conservancy provided technical support to Manitoga, giving them a list of landscape priorities as well as letters of support for their Save America’s Treasures and National Trust’s Artists’ Homes and Studios grant applications. In 2011, after Manitoga sustained extensive damage from Hurricane Irene and an untimely late October snow storm, the Garden Conservancy worked with Manitoga’s Woodland Landscape Council to assess damage and implement clean-up efforts. Since that time, the Conservancy has maintained an advisory role with Manitoga.

Marian Coffin Gardens at Gibraltar Wilmington, DE

Marian Cruger Coffin designed the gardens at Gibraltar, the former estate of Hugh Rodney Sharp and his wife, Isabella Mathieu du Pont Sharp, purchased in 1909. In 1995, Preservation Delaware, which owns and manages the property, asked the Garden Conservancy for assistance in rehabilitating the Gardens at Gibraltar. The Conservancy advised on the development of a master plan and a capital campaign, as well as provided letters of support for Save America’s Treasures, Garden Club of Delaware, and other grants for the garden.

Marin Art and Garden Center Ross, CA

The Marin Art and Garden Center is a nonprofit organization that provides eleven acres of gardens, educational programs, and a venue for weddings and other events. The only entry we have is that “In 2008, the Garden Conservancy made a site visit, when the center was having financial challenges and Antonia Adezio met with them several times.” According to her, “Garden Conservancy involvement was fairly minor, mainly focused on raising awareness of the center.”