Historic Gardens and Landscapes

Georgene A. Bramlage_October_2006, Georgene A. Bramlage

Posted by
Georgene A. Bramlage
Aug 23, 2007

What is a better way for a landscape gardener to spend a day off than visiting another garden? If there is another way, I have not found it!

This week two friends and I took a day trip to Salem, MA. Yes, this is the location, north of Boston, near which the infamous "Salem Witch Trials" took place in 1692. However, the three of us were not into witches on this visit but were keen to see what was happening at The Turner House (House of the Seven Gables), made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

What we found was a tidy recreated historic neighborhood with a Colonial Revival garden owned by The House of the Seven Gables Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1910. Aadmission fees to this historic neighborhood support the Foundation's mission of:

Educating (Salem's) people of all ages;
Preserving (Salem's) historic buildings and collections for future generations; and
Providing community services for (Salem's) families and children.

Many times, the fun of a garden visit for me is in unraveling its past rather than just looking at the pretty flowers. The schoolteacher in me likes to look for accuracy in garden interpretation, while the photographer in me is always busy looking for that "perfect shot."

So, all in all, it was a great day out for the three of us.

The following are article links that feature recent Historic Gardens and Landscapes:

Text and photograph by Georgene A. Bramlage. 2007. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.