Sewickley -- English Idyll

There are historic roots to both this house and gardens in Edgeworth borough: the circa 1928 house designed by Benno Janssen and William Cocken in French eclectic style with English Cotswold features and the original garden designed by Ralph Griswold influenced by his European training. The property, purchased by the current owners in 1999 with only mature trees and shrubs and hardscape remaining, is back by a steep hillside divided by Griswold's sandstone walls, terraces and stone stairs into four distinct levels. The owners acquired neighboring property to forestall development, now holding about six acres with two acres of woodland. According to Griswold the front garden should be considered public with a long driveway and expansive lawn, to which the current owners added islands of shrubs and small trees. Plantings, now mature, include Japanese maple, weeping white spruce, false cypress, white rhododendron, viburnum, boxwood and juniper. In the center of the driveway circle in front of the house there is a paperbark maple edged with Belgian block pavers. Clipped box hedges and urns overflowing with annuals, a hidden bench and flowering shrubs soften the "public" garden. There are several dining and entertainment zones on the patios and courtyard surrounding the house. The left side terraces behind the house were considered the working side gardens – now grapevines have given way to iris and peony. The other left side terraces were dedicated to vegetables, a small fruit orchard, and cold frames. Now on these terraces are a repose with shade trees and a hammock, a boxwood knot with a stone fountain, and a putting green with the old cold frame. The right side terraces were for an English border, bulbs and annuals, roses, and perennials, now modernized with clipped hedges and overflowing with perennials and annuals. On the first terrace the stone patio for entertaining remains, and there is a screened-in gazebo with a ceiling fan. On the second terrace there is a cast dinosaur with floral décor, originally purchased at a charity event. The third terrace has mixed plantings including roses and the fourth has a split-rail fence, grass pathway, and recently beehives. Throughout the four acres of tended gardens there are secluded secret gardens, benches, planted containers and tuteurs, statuary, birdhouses, and black iron fences and gates. On either side of the house there are planted beds, climbing vines, a courtyard on the left near the parking area and an enclosed patio of the right for private relaxing. The original layout of the land allows for movement up and down the stone stairs on either side, views from the higher levels, spatial clarity (even if those spaces have changing décor), and easy functionality. There is discrete deer fencing and for easier maintenance the owners are favoring shrubs, perennials and vines in recent years.