Garden as Art returned to Guild Hall in East Hampton this past Sunday, September 8. Beginning with a talk by the owner of Marder’s, Charlie Marder, in Guild Hall’s Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan Theater at 10 AM, Garden as Art continued from noon until 4 PM with self-guided tours throughout four breathtaking private gardens in Wainscott and East Hampton.
The Woodhouse Playhouse offered garden guests the chance to view the interior of The Playhouse and head to the gardens. The Playhouse was designed by Guild Hall founder Mrs. Lorenzo Woodhouse in 1916. Respected architect Robert A.M. Stern praised Woodhouse’s design as “the most perfectly preserved of the Woodhouse family properties.”
The grounds of The Playhouse sprawl across nearly three acres of property, featuring a gunite pool, a peaceful fountain, and various mature specimens of trees such as beech, sycamore, and elm that have been maintained since Mrs. Woodhouse’s days, still providing natural surrounding beauty today.
Other public gifts from Mrs. Woodhouse to the surrounding community include Guild Hall and the East Hampton Public Library. The Playhouse was designed specifically for performance art and served as a lively performance art hall from 1917 to 1933. Performance art shows varied from stage classics by first-tier actors, concerts by string quartets and the Westminster Choir, and dance. Some of the works performed at The Playhouse were by Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis, whose gauze-clad Denishawn dancers transformed the Playhouse gardens into an ethereal outdoor stage in 1932.
The private gardens of this past weekend’s event included the garden of Carl Bengtsson and Kathy Sutherland, which was designed and installed by Harmonia Inc. Requiring a landscape design and installation to create a cozy feel, this contemporary construction included an extensive New York stone entrance of earth tone hues. Bengtsson and Sutherland’s garden was lined by richer birch, and early blooming Helleborus and Annabelle hydrangea welcomed you at the entrance. Flattered by casual seating and a fire pit, the circular patio was a lovely spot to enjoy the fireflies in the reserve off in the distance. Another feature of this property included a custom-built life-size treehouse.
Designed by Hollander Design Landscape Architects, Wainscott takes from the distinctive and historical part of Long Island’s agricultural history, linking a Peconic Land Trust area with a farming reserve that draws inspiration from a 1938 potato barn originally on the site. Surrounded by naturalized meadows, the comfortable landscape offers perfect outdoor living for alfresco dining and cooking, as well as lounging by the pool or taking advantage of a workout space. The garden between the house and pool invited guests to enjoy sites of butterflies and birds along the path.
An expansive 90-year-old crimson weeping Japanese maple hides behind an ivy-covered brick wall of a Main Street East Hampton property, attracting tour-goers to enjoy a perennial garden bordering the croquet court, which is surrounded by 36 giant boxwoods and a bubbling pond with lilies and water hyacinths. While Galen Williams originally designed the garden, it is today being cared for by Elizabeth Gardens.
This property held the first flower show of the Garden Club of East Hampton in 1926 and was once the home of May Groot Manson, a leading suffragette for whom there is a historical marker in front of this house. Some recent additions to the Main Street East Hampton property include a hidden form and theater to entertain the owner’s grandchildren, who can also enjoy a putting green that adds playfulness to this private garden.
Lastly, guests enjoyed the exquisite gardens at Landscape Details, which was meticulously designed with an eye for aesthetics, featuring intricate stonework, a relaxing meditation pool, and a variety of beautiful plantings that add boosts of color and texture throughout the garden while creating a harmonious blend between nature and structure.
