United States of America -- Connecticut -- Litchfield County -- Cornwall -- Cornwall Hollow
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, photocopies of an article, and a write-up of the family's history with the property.
General:
Property records for the large parcel of land in which Henry's Hill is located date back to the late 18th century, and the land was used for farming and foresting into the twentieth century. The current owners inherited the house and about eleven acres and set about redesigning the house and installing gardens. The main garden at Henry's Hill is bordered by old low stone walls planted with 8-foot deep borders of perennials and shrubs, with two foot wide maintenance paths inside the walls, designed by Tiziana Hardy. A formal garden comprised of two varieties of boxwood, winter gem and green velvet, container plantings, blocks of stone, and gravel paths was established north of the house. A water garden comprised of three ponds surrounded by compatible plantings lies to the northeast outside the walls. An island bed of ornamental grasses lies east of the house.
Another 300 acres were set aside in 1984 through a conservation easement that protects 40 acres of farmland, more than 200 acres of forest, and an aquifer underlying the Hollenbeck River and watershed from further development. Nearly a mile of the Appalachian Trail transverses the easement property.
In the 1920s during the ownership of Dr. and Mrs. Lieb flower gardens designed by the Elm City Nursery Company, Woodmont Nursery Inc., Landscape Engineers of New Haven, Connecticut, replaced old pastures. The property was no longer farmed and was used as a summer and week-end estate. The subsequent owner, Laurens Hammond, invented the Hammond organ; his widow Roxana Scoville Hammond was responsible for the conservation and protection plan. Some of the agricultural land attached to Henry's Hill has been repurposed as a beef cattle business by the next generation of the owners' family.
Tim Prentice, who renovated the house circa 2000, is a local architect and kinetic sculptor responsible for maintaining the historic character of many houses in the area of Cornwall Hollow.
Persons associated with the garden include Thaddeus Ford and descendants (formers owners, 1782-1860); Heman Harrison (former owner, 1860-1897); M.E. Harrison (former owner, 1897-1906); E. Baldwin (former owner, 1906-1920); Dr. & Mrs. Charles Lieb (former owners, 1920-1957); Laurens & Roxana Scoville Hammond (former owners, 1957-2000); Tiziana Hardy, (landscape designer, 2001); Tim Prentice (redesign of house, 2000-2001); Mary Daalhuyzen (Head gardener, 2001-2008).
Related Materials:
Henry's Hill related holdings consist of 1 folder (18 35 mm. slides (photographs))
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- Connecticut -- Cornwall Hollow Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
