Nearly a decade ago, I first visited Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills, New Jersey. The owners of Greenwood, 28 acres of gardens, structures, outbuildings and naturalized areas, were beginning the process of making the transition from private property to public garden. Deterioration was encroaching on the property, which had its moments of greatest glory in the 1920’s and ‘30’s. Terraces were so unstable that they had to be roped off. Wild vegetation had invaded garden areas and water features had long since ceased functioning. Greenwood was a lovely relic, but it was desperately in need of a major infusion of money and attention.
In the first third of the twentieth century, Greenwood was called “Pleasant Days,” a play on the name of its owner, real estate auctioneer Joseph P. Day, who purchased the property in 1906. Five years later, when fire destroyed the original hilltop house, Day hired architect and fellow Short Hills resident William W. Renwick to design a new house and garden. Renwick, was the nephew of James Renwick, a noted architect and designer of New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, as well as the original buildings of the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. By the time William Renwick was hired by the Days, he was a partner in his uncle’s New York architectural firm.
With a grand vision, an abundance of funds and relatively cheap labor, Day and Renwick made Pleasant Days into a showplace. The centerpiece was a series of terraces and water features that descend down the hillside from the rear of the main house. Now the two reflecting pools that were part of this grand design are no longer filled with water, but are either filled or surrounded with new plantings.
Pleasant Days became The Greenwoods in 1949, when it was purchased by a New York couple, Peter P. Blanchard, Jr. and his wife, Adelaide Childs Frick Blanchard. The family razed the deteriorated Renwick-designed house, built a more manageable home on the site and used the property as their country home. Some horticultural additions, including evergreens and trees were planted and the Day/Renwick landscape elements remained substantially intact.
A very old, very accomplished gardener once said to me, “Water features…they’re nothing but trouble.” No doubt the board of Greenwood Gardens would agree. In addition to the former reflecting pools in back of the house, the estate is home to a grand cascade–seven levels of descending steps culminating in another reflecting pool–christened the “Dragon Fountain Pool.” No longer functioning, the cascade is still beautiful. I hope that perhaps subsequent restoration will make it operable once more.
I visited in late April. Because of the long, cold spring, many of the flowering plants were still emerging from their winter slumbers. The peonies, iris and roses that will be the highlight of many of the formal areas were leafed out, but not yet full of buds. Woodland species like trillium and corydalis were very much in evidence. The many mature trees, like those in the long allée of sycamores planted by Peter Blanchard, Jr., the former owner and father of current board member, Peter Blanchard, III, were clothing themselves in green. It was easy to imagine the beautiful flowers waiting in the wings for slightly warmer weather.
Lovers of the Arts and Crafts movement will find many delights at Greenwood. Two rustic garden structures, the octagonal summerhouse and teahouse, are decorated with colorful Rookwood ceramic tiles. The same Rookwood tiles can be found adorning former workers’ cottages near the main house. The teahouse, built in 1920, is surrounded by large limestone chess piece that will remind you of the ones drawn by Victorian artist John Tenniel for the original edition of Alice in Wonderland.
Greenwood is still a work in progress. The first and most critical restoration phase is complete and the grounds are open to the public. Future plans will certainly include more plantings and structural renovations. Aided by the non-profit Garden Conservancy, Greenwood is shaking off the cobwebs of the late twentieth century and moving forward. This is especially important, because in many places, significant early twentieth century American gardens are among those in the greatest danger of being lost to development. It is much better to visit Greenwood Gardens and witness a renaissance in progress than to read about yet another suburban demolition project.
Greenwood Gardens is located at 274 Old Short Hills Road, Short Hills, NJ 07078. The property is open Sunday through Tuesday, from April 29 – October 29. Tickets must be purchased in advance and can be obtained by calling (866).811-4111. For further information, visit the website at www.greenwoodgardens.org.