United States of America -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny County -- Pittsburgh
Scope and Contents:
26 digital images, 1 DVD and 1 file folder.
General:
The foursquare house on this ¾-acre property was built circa 1908 by the U.S. Army corps of engineers to be used by one of two lockmasters, preferably with large families, employed to maintain busy locks 24/7 on the Allegheny River. The federal government provided some landscaping in the 1930's and 1940's, and there is photographic evidence of a vegetable garden. There were mature white pine, catalpa, river birch, ash and silver maple and stands of invasive Japanese knotweed when the current owners began developing gardens in 2001. The entrance garden behind a nine-foot tall wooden fence was built first, with an arched wooden bridge over a bubbling waterfall and fish pond with koi, shaded by two river birches, a dwarf Japanese maple, oakleaf hydrangea, azaleas, and an understory of Solomon's seal, Japanese painted fern, hellebores and hosta. The shabby chic garden is more formal with intersecting boxwood hedges edging beds of flowering shrubs, roses, bulbs and perennials. The focal point is a two-level cement fountain set in another koi pond with a nearby statue of St. Francis of Assisi. A collection of stone statues of Buddha and a hot tub, with shade perennials and a view of the Allegheny River comprise the Buddha bed. The dam wall garden features an arbor created from fallen branches, stone steps descending 20 feet with ground cover, ferns and daylilies planted on the hillside, a fire pit on the riverbank but no vegetation on the dredged river sand and gravel.
On the main level there is a swimming pool inside a pool house/greenhouse with a retractable roof. Its shady garden has ferns, liriope, spotted dead nettle, ornamental grasses, heuchera, hosta, Joe Pye weed, a meandering stream and another pond with koi and ducks. The pool house walk has a wisteria-covered pergola and birdhouses. The gathering garden has a meditation hut cantilevered over the riverbank with plantings of hydrangea, mountain laurel, hosta, hellebores, astilbe, bellflowers, Japanese anemone and blueberry bushes shaded by white pine. The sunny farm or potager is comprised of raised beds separated by gravel walkways planted with perennial flowers, herbs, vegetables and rhubarb from grandmother's garden. Additional outbuildings include a chicken house with chickens free to roam, a duck house and a shed with solar panels that provide electricity for these buildings.
Choderwood is located between a defunct short line railroad and the Allegheny River, an urban oasis in a formerly industrial location, and is a certified wildlife habitat. The owners have participated in garden tours and host events as well as lodgers on two riverboats.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (former owners, 1908-1957); Stanley Chimel (former owner, 1957-1992); James P. Fahey (former owner, 1992-1994); Bryan Rogers and Cynthia Rice (former owners, 1994-2000); Friday's Perennials (entrance ponds and gardens, 2001); Kubrick brothers Garden Center (stone steps, potager beds, 2002); Plumline Nursery (pond designer and builder); Zero Fossil (garden shed solar panels, 2014)
Plumline Nursery designed the pond.
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.
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.
