Visitors enter from the side of the house, originally its main entrance, allowing the garden to be experienced much as its designers intended more than two centuries ago. The property once extended well beyond its present boundaries to encompass neighboring parcels, including Garden Three. Stone walls divide a series of terraces that descend to the lower lawns. While the plantings have evolved over time, these terraces remain the defining feature of the landscape and are among the earliest surviving examples of formal garden design in the Borough. A major renewal of the gardens took place in the early 2000s, the stone walls were repaired, and wrought-iron fencing added. Much of the original bluestone paving remains in place. The garden features prominent examples of mature Cryptomeria japonica, or Japanese cedar. During the 1910s and 1920s, a plant-hunting golden age brought exotic Asian species to the West through institutions like Harvard's Arnold Arboretum. Wealthy summer residents and local gardeners eagerly sought out these striking trees, sparking a distinct community trend. More than a century later, these surviving specimens have become some of the community’s most impressive trees and serve as living reminders of that era's passion for global botany. As notable as the garden itself, the porch floor retains its original handcrafted tiles, an unusual and well-preserved feature of the property. The owner is currently researching their provenance. For those interested, they are similar to (but not) tiles produced by the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, founded by archaeologist and Arts & Crafts designer Henry Chapman Mercer, the tiles reflect the Arts & Crafts movement’s emphasis on traditional craftsmanship. In 1911, the property was purchased as a summer home by architect Edward Palmer York of the firm York & Sawyer. Educated at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, York helped design notable landmarks like the Washington Trust Bank in Westerly, the New York Historical Society, and the Herbert C. Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. “Mr York, an architect of the New York firm of York and Sawyer, remodeled this lovely Georgian house with such discerning taste that none of its original authentic charm was destroyed." The York family owned the property for nearly sixty years. We are grateful to Wick York for providing a history and family photographs from their tenure, which provide a valuable visual record of this era. Contributed by Anna Bell McLanahan The following excerpt from Grace Wheeler Denison’s 'The Homes of Our Ancestors' describes the property and its terraced gardens as they were understood at the turn of the twentieth century: “Up the hill, from the Col. Smith house, is the Samuel Denison homestead, built by the Rev. Hezekiah Woodruff after he was installed in 1789 at the Road Church, which was then called the Mystic meeting-house; but his house was not finished when he left his parish in 1803. Then Mr. Stiles Phelps, son of Dr. Charles and Hannah Denison Phelps, bought and renovated it in fine style, to suit his ideas. He had been abroad (a rare thing in those days) and was much pleased with the terraced gardens he saw there, so he arranged this ground in terraces as they are now, and made it the finest place in the Borough. “He failed in business, however, and about 1811, Mr. Samuel Denison bought the whole place, extending on the south side to the Charles Phelps place (which is the Capt. C. P. Williams house) and north to the east road; the railroad cut through his land on the north, and the Episcopal church stands on the land to the south, where also a street was cut through; on the east the large schoolhouse now stands, and Mr. Eugene Atwood’s house, which was built by the Rev. Samuel Denison, Secretary of the Board of Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church of New York, and sold by his heirs to the present owners.” “This fine old mansion stands on quite high ground, very nearly as it was 100 years ago, and is much admired for its old-fashioned charm.” Sources Information on Moravian tiles is adapted from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and historical materials from the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works. Historical photographs and family history courtesy of the York family. Historical Account from Grace Wheeler Denison (1903)