South Kingstown -- Croftmere Garden

Croftmere's sunken garden has been restored to the Arts & Crafts style designed in 1915 by landscape architect Sibley C. Smith. Adjacent to the 1906 wood shingle-style house the 44 by 74 feet garden room is part of an eight acre property that was part of a larger tract divided in the early 1900s among family members. The sunken garden is entered by descending three rough cut granite steps and surrounded on three sides by crisscross cedar fencing set on stone walls and supported by rough stone columns. At the far end of the garden room steps lead to a stone pergola draped with roses and wisteria. Small millstones are used for tables and a large one is sited on the grass terrace between the house and garden. A rectangular stone-lined lily pond with its original fountain is in the center of the garden room and deep beds of perennial flowers have been planted between the fences and the lawn as part of the restoration. Trimmed boxwood and viburnum, clematis and roses grow on the terrace and on an arbor alongside the house.

Persons associated with the garden include members of the Cocroft family since 1906; Walter G. Sheldon (1855-1931) (architect, 1906); Sibley C. Smith, ASLA (landscape architect, 1915); Carder Whaley (garden installation, 1916); Linda Lapin (restoration garden designer, 2000); Brenda McCloskey (gardener, 2005- ); Glen McCluster (fence restoration, 2015).