Innisfree Garden facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Innisfree Garden |
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View of a meandering creek
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| Location | 362 Tyrrel Road Millbrook, New York, U.S. |
| Area | 150 acres (61 ha) |
| Established | 1930 |
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Innisfree Garden
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| Architect | Walter and Marion Beck Lester Collins |
| NRHP reference No. | 100004333 |
| Added to NRHP | September 3, 2019 |
Innisfree Garden is a special public garden in Millbrook, New York. It's a non-profit place that gets its unique look from traditional Chinese garden styles.
This beautiful garden started as a private space for Walter and Marion Beck between 1930 and 1960. They were inspired by old Chinese paintings by a poet named Wang Wei. Later, with help from a landscape architect named Lester Collins, they connected many small garden scenes. These scenes were designed around a natural lake, blending art with nature.
Since 1960, Innisfree Garden has been open for everyone to visit. It was even added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019 because of its importance.
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How Innisfree Garden Began
Innisfree Garden was first the private home of Walter Beck (1864–1954) and Marion Burt Beck (1876–1959). They got married in 1922. Walter was a painter, and his father was a garden architect. Marion inherited a large estate and money from her father, Wellington R. Burt, who was a lumber businessman.
In 1930, they had a house built that looked like an old English manor. It was placed on a hill overlooking Tyrrel Lake. They named their estate "Innisfree" after a poem by W. B. Yeats called "The Lake Isle of Innisfree".
At first, the garden around the house had formal flower beds. But Walter Beck wanted something different. He started creating many small, special garden areas. He called them "cup-gardens." These areas used natural things like plants, rocks, and streams to create beautiful scenes. It took a lot of work to move hundreds of large rocks to create these designs. They even pumped water from the lake to make streams and waterfalls.
From 1938, Walter Beck worked with landscape architect Lester Collins (1914–1993). Collins was studying at Harvard University at the time. He later became a very famous landscape architect. At Innisfree, Collins helped combine Walter Beck's ideas with Chinese and Japanese garden styles. He had studied these styles in Japan.
When Walter Beck passed away in 1954, his wife Marion asked Collins to create a foundation. This foundation would help manage the garden. Collins worked to connect all of Beck's individual garden scenes into one big, flowing landscape.
The Garden Through the Years
When Marion Beck died in 1959, the garden's management officially went to the foundation. Lester Collins became the director. He made some big changes to the garden. He reduced the number of gardeners and removed some of the older "cup-gardens." He also planted new trees and added more rocks and fountains. These changes helped create a more natural and romantic feeling in the garden.
The garden first opened to the public in 1960. In 1969, a bridge was built across the lake. They even installed a special machine to create artificial rainbows! Collins wanted visitors to feel like they were on a journey as they explored the landscape around the lake. In 1972, Collins sold a large part of the property to Rockefeller University, which turned it into a nature preserve.
From 1980, Collins spent more time at Innisfree Garden. He focused on working "in partnership with nature." He made lasting changes to help the garden be more sustainable. For example, he allowed more sunlight to reach the ground, which helped native plants grow. In 1982, he decided to have the original manor house taken down. He felt it didn't fit the garden's new natural style and was too expensive to keep.
When Collins passed away in 1993, his wife, Petronella, took over. She managed the garden until 2017. In 2019, Innisfree Garden was officially recognized for its "exceptional significance in landscape architecture." This means it's a very important example of garden design.
In 2012, a group called the Cultural Landscape Foundation said Innisfree Garden was one of twelve important American landscapes that might be at risk. They worried that the cost of keeping up the garden was using up the foundation's money.
Where to Find Innisfree Garden
Innisfree Garden is located at 362 Tyrrel Road in Millbrook, New York. The garden covers about 150 acres (61 hectares). It has many streams, waterfalls, terraces, and beautiful rock formations. Most of the plants you see are native to the area. The rocks used in the garden come from the local forest.
Tyrrel Lake is a large, deep lake that covers about 40 acres (16 hectares). It's a glacial lake, meaning it was formed by glaciers long ago. Water is pumped from this lake up to a reservoir on a hillside. From there, it flows down to create all the garden's water features.
Visiting the Garden
You can visit Innisfree Garden from May 7 to October 20, Wednesday through Sunday. There is an admission fee to enter.
In 2020, the garden was planning to celebrate its 60th anniversary. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they had to limit visitors. They stayed open with a special reservation system. The garden's landscape curator, Kate Kerin, said that places like Innisfree are important. They offer peace and connect people to nature and art, especially during difficult times. Instead of having people visit to see the daffodils, volunteers cut about 4,500 flowers. They delivered them to local hospitals and assisted-living homes.
