Rabbit Hill

Forty years ago, my husband Richard and I bought a tiny “get-away”. A nineteenth-century farmhouse set in fifty-seven acres of a second-growth woodland. Today, the tiny house, wrapped in additions, is unrecognizable. The gardens, then non-existent became our joy and creating a landscape was Richard’s passion for years. Unfortunately he passed away in May 2015 and all of the plants and trees miss him. I am continuing to work on the garden without him. We cleared a woodland for a large lawn and opened land to reveal a view of the Berkshires. Richard raised the canopy of a large wooded area and planted many species and varieties of decorative understory trees, shrubs, shade perennials, and ground-covers that are now seen by strolling on a network of stone paths that interlace the woodland grove. A moss garden is contained within the grove and it is bordered by an allée planted with specimen trees and shrubs and, to the east, by “Moby Dick”, a rock outcropping, several hundred feet long, uncovered by hand digging over several years. Whale-shaped and white when uncovered, the name was inevitable. The elements have weathered it and covered it with moss and lichen since, but the name endures. A swamp, down the hillside from the main garden area, was dredged by three large bulldozers and has become a secluded, underground spring-fed, five-acre lake, planted (with some supervision) quite beautifully by nature. There are other things to see. A dry-laid stone wall was built with stone found on the property by Richard and a helper. A long, serpentine perennial bed separates the lawn and the grove. That is my domain. I was a painter, now a photographer, and I do my best to provide beautiful blooms and cascades of color throughout the garden seasons. There is a pond Richard dug at the south border of the lawn. It includes a densely planted peninsula that contains several treasures. Come and enjoy the garden at your leisure. I love to share it.

Read more about this garden in the March 2015 issue of New York Cottages & Gardens!

Directions: From the Taconic State Parkway, exit east at Manor Rock Road. Go 1 mile to fork and turn right onto Maiers Road. Twenty feet on left are five mailboxes and our driveway with a sign, “158 Maiers Road.”

From intersection of Routes 22 and 23 at Hillsdale, go west on Route 23 exactly 4 miles to County Route 11/Beauty Award Highway. Go south 2.2 miles to Craryville Road. Turn right and go 0.8 mile to fork. Bear right onto Manor Rock Road and go 1.5 miles to Maiers Road fork. Keep left about 20 feet. Our driveway is just past five mailboxes. Please park on Maiers Road and walk in.

Open Days 2018: June 24.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission to this garden is $7 for members and nonmembers without tickets purchased in advance.

Buy discounted admission tickets in advance! They can be used at most Open Days to make garden visiting easier.
Nonmembers get 6 visits for the price of 5 with advanced ticket book purchase.
Members get 50% off ONLY by purchasing ticket books in advance.