New Canaan -- Fitch-Perkins-Bergmann House

This architect-designer's modernist garden with a highly ordered geometry is an extension to the 1836 Greek Revival style house. An abstract but formal composition using a series of stepped terraces merges, joins, and unfolds space on the one-third acre lot. Keeping to the minimalist theme, abundant summer annuals are limited to two colors. The serene landscaped rooms are formalized by yew parterres, serial hedges, stone and painted brick walls, a bosk of pruned crabapple trees, a cone folly, raked gravel, and other French and Italian elements. Its geometry contrasts with the thick, random woodland plantings of mature pines and hemlocks. An opaque screen of European beech separates the entry court from the landmark building, located in a historic district adjacent to the town center. The patter of water is created with two fountains in granite basins located side by side.

Persons and organizations with the property include: Theophilus Fitch (former owner, 1835-1837); Philo Fitch (former owner, 1837-1865); Clarinda Ayres (former owner, 1865-1891); Eleazer Fancher (former owner, 1891-1902); Helen Rogers (former owner, 1902-1919); The Community School (former owner, 1919-1924); Maxwell E. and Louise Perkins (former owners, 1924-1965); John and Bertha Frothingham (former owners, 1965-1972); and Johnson Lee (former owner, 1972-1973).