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<\/a>The shingle house was designed in 1884 by McKim, Mead & White for Joseph Choate, Mabel Choate’s father. Naumkeag is the native American name for Salem, Massachusetts, where Joseph was born. The Afternoon Garden is next to the house on the right. The Blue Steps are hidden in the birch trees that partially block the white tent, there for a wedding reception.<\/p><\/div>\n
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That was eight years ago. In those eight years I’ve grown as a gardener and landscape designer. I’ve visited outstanding gardens around the world and honed my own skills and ideas. So when I planned a return visit to Naumkeag earlier this month, I wondered if I would still be as delighted by what I saw.<\/p>\n
I was. If anything, I found more to admire in Steele’s designs, now being restored as part of a multi-million dollar project\u00a0that began in 2013.<\/p>\n
I arrived unaware that work was going on, but the barriers around the Chinese garden alerted me immediately.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>This final part of the three year, four\u00a0phase $3 million restoration project is scheduled for completion in 2016.<\/p><\/div>\n
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A wedding reception was taking place later in the afternoon of my visit, which meant that a large portion of the terraces were off limits. This did not sit well with me and I considered asking for my $15 admission fee to be returned. But the day was warm and sunny and my mood improved as soon as I entered the newly renovated Afternoon Garden. It sparkled. It made me smile. In my mind I compared what it had looked like in 2007 …<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The Afternoon Garden, referred to as Mabel Choate’s ‘joy and delight,’ was the first project on which Steele and Choate collaborated. It dates from 1926.<\/p><\/div>\n
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with what it looked like now. Some of the changes I noticed immediately — the shiny new gondola poles in particular — but others I noted only when I compared photos.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Mabel Choate loved Venice so Fletcher Steele incorporated 18 gondola poles and finials into the design of the Afternoon Garden. They were carved in 1928 by Archangelo Cascieri, a famous sculptor and wood carver in Boston. The current poles are made from New England-sourced oak and were hand carved and painted by one of his apprentices, Robert Shure, and his artisans at Skylight Studios. Note also how much more greenery there is now around the fountain against the wall.<\/p><\/div>\n
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In the central portion of the Afternoon Garden a small pool is surrounded by an intricately woven boxwood parterre. Fountains shaped like scallop shells add a light touch, as do the elaborate and oddly\u00a0coloured chairs and benches.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>These benches have been restored and repainted in their original colours.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Before and after photos illustrate how effective the restoration has been. Elements that were hidden are now highlighted.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The scallop basins are hidden in the vegetation in this photo from 2007.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Newly replanted, the boxwood is now in scale with Steele’s intent, and the details of the intricate design are clear.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The scallop basins now take pride of place in the boxwood parterre, showcasing the details of Steele’s design. Unfortunately, despite major work on Naumkeag’s\u00a0entire water system, they were not spouting when I was there.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Even more impressive were the changes to the Linden Walk. This all\u00e9e, inspired by the linden all\u00e9es of Berlin, was planted in 1890 by Mabel’s mother, Caroline Choate. When I visited in 2007, the walk was dark, almost spooky. The trees were damaged and overgrown.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>This isn’t an ordinary country road, although it could easily be taken as such.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Now the all\u00e9e sparkles in the sunlight.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Seventy-one linden trees planted in 2013 now line the all\u00e9e. Cocoa shells originally provided mulch for the trees\u00a0and gave out a distinctive smell of chocolate. The mulch now is much more ordinary, and unscented.<\/p><\/div>\n
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The Blue Steps, arguably Fletcher Steele’s most famous design, were built when Mabel Choate asked for an easier way to get from the house down the hill to her cutting garden. Major changes here involved a complete renewal of the water system that feeds the runnell, or rill,\u00a0that moves from the Afternoon Garden to the Blue Steps themselves. I failed to even notice this feature\u00a0in 2007; now its downhill trajectory can’t be missed.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Water trickles down the central depression in these stone and brickwork steps. The small changes of level are meant to suggest fish scales. Shining in the sunlight, they do.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Many of the birch trees that frame the Blue Steps and create the contrast between the step’s Renaissance-inspired forms\u00a0and the natural forested hillside around them have been replanted. The concrete half-moons that rise in sweeps have been repainted.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>This photo shows the Blue Steps as they appeared in 2007. Steele and Choate experimented with different colours, finally settling on this shade of light blue. The re-painted areas\u00a0appear a darker shade but I can find no reference to confirm this.<\/p><\/div>\n
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The shrubs surrounding the steps, replanted in 2013, are\u00a0no longer bare at the bottom. \u00a0The curving metal handrail\u00a0is as graceful as always, accentuated now by a\u00a0shorter hedge.<\/p>\n
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