Setting the Scenery GARDEN DESIGNER HILARY FINN CULTIVATES THE PRACTICAL AND THE ORNATE By Anne Pyburn Craig | Photos by Thomas Smith
H
ilary Finn thought she’d be a sculptor or a painter when she studied at SUNY New Paltz. Then she found her true media: not just wood and stone but water, light, flowers, and leaves. Since 2000, she has been renewing outdoor spaces as a garden designer, recently adding outdoor furniture design to her list of talents. “My jumping-off point is the architecture that I’m working with,” she says. “I like simple, direct design—utilitarian, but with a decorative element.” Finn divides her time between Brooklyn, New Paltz, and an island in Maine with no cell service, a place with what she calls “controlled wild.” We spoke with Finn about her motivation, inspirations, and methods.
upstate HOUSE
| FALL 2014 • 37