United States of America -- New Hampshire -- Cheshire -- Jaffrey
Sunnycrest (Jaffrey, New Hampshire)
Scope and Contents:
38 digital images (2013, 2018) and 1 file folder. Images 001-038 photographed by Sarah H. Larsen.
General:
The 17-acre property has a circa 1907 Dutch colonial style house with a gambrel roof and wraparound porches on three sides, but in 1989 the current owners found only mature trees, random shrubs, a vegetable garden, and grass flats on either side of the house. Drawing on her professional landscape design training and experience they designed structured gardens near the house that would fade into the meadows and woodland, building stone walls and curving pathways to define spaces. Never meant to be a flowery garden their plantings included native and species trees and shrubs with pleasing textures; eventually the plant selection included dozens of evergreen, shade and ornamental trees, perennial flowers and herbs, ground covers, vines, deciduous shrubs, and ferns. Two vegetable and flower gardens have a fruit orchard with apple, plum, pear and peach trees espaliered on the split rail fence. A new woodland garden, a bosquet, was developed in a clearing that reveals a view of Mount Monadnock. A shingled standing tree trunk with a mirror attached to the top is the feature here.
Sunnycrest has four 40-foot long beds with more than two dozen varieties of ornamental grasses that were not commonly grown in New England when the owners planted them. Tall perennials such as Joe Pye weed were planted at the perimeters of these beds. About 4,000 daffodil bulbs share the same ground; in spring this is known as daffodil highway. The owners are especially pleased with their grass garden in fall when the tall stands show a variety of colors complemented by colors among the trees and shrubs near the house as well as pink mums in the vegetable garden, sedum, monkshood and daisies. Scattered around the gardens there are benches and pergolas, birdhouses, containers of succulents, a composition of old granite curbstones, and pottery holders for bean supports in the vegetable garden. There is a frog pond with a fountain and a stone-faced bread oven built into a stone wall. The garden has been opened many times for tours and fund raising events.
Persons associated with the garden include: Oscar H. Bradley (former owner, circa 1870-1899); Annie E. Bunce (former owner, 1899-1904); Silas E. Buck (former owner, 1904-1910); Clifford P. Warren (former owner, 1910-1942); Bertha M. Shepard (former owner, 1942-1948); Mr. and Mrs. W. Arnold Seale (former owners, 1948-1966); Susanne R. de Wolfe (former owner, 1966-1984); Edward M. Read (former owner, 1984-1989); Margaret S. and Gene Pokorny (owners, garden designers and gardeners 1989- ).
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.
