Locust Valley -- Shenandoah

This 6 ½ acre property was established by the current owners in 1996. The unique landscape features on the site were inspiration for the design of the property which combines formal gardens with meadows, woodlands, and open lawns. The design of the gardens is primarily symmetrical and features walkways to allow visitors to easily access different areas of the property. Numerous stone and iron benches are placed throughout the gardens.

The driveway from the entrance to the property leads one through a collection of stately oak trees and mature rhododendron. A low fieldstone wall with bluestone coping encloses the entrance courtyard. Buxus, rhododendron, Japanese maple, and holly are featured in this space. Behind the low stone wall, the shade garden displays an antique fountain with a frog sculpture in its center. This area features shade loving perennials such as Hosta, fern, astilbe, Alchemilla Mollis, hellebore, and annuals, while pruned variegated euonymus hedges act as a visual screen to the space. A path is created through moss and creeping mazus that fills the spaces between the granite steps. The urn garden is characterized by the footed urn in the center of a grassy lawn surrounded by deciduous trees. A formal sunken rose garden is located on the previous site of a kidney-shaped pool. A serpentine stone wall inspired by Thomas Jefferson's wall at the University of Virginia encloses the shade and rose garden. The chimney of the main house features a convex mirror to see inside of the rose garden.

A rectangular pool is surrounded by potted plants and wrought iron benches. The walls of the pool garden are constructed of old Virginia brick. A large terrace consisting of two symmetrical horshoe shaped terraces are located at the back of the house. The central space is flanked by red maple trees. One of the most significant hardscape elements is the semi-circular stair [Lutyens steps] leading to the upper-level meadow from the rose garden. An arbor wrapped with climbing roses and bordered by mature American boxwood marks the exit to the property.

Persons associated with the garden include: Piping Rock Estate (former owner, 1913-unknown); Ronald M. Craigmyle (former owner, 1931-1980s); Thomas A. Sanders (former owner, 1988-1996); Jane Darling (landscape architect, 1947); Innocenti and Webel Darling (pool architect, 1955); Alan Greenberg (pool architect, 2004).