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Built in 1942 in classic Georgian Revival style, the main residence was purchased by Fred Landman in 1994. Working with local Greenwich architect Charles Hilton, Landman spent two years renovating and enlarging the interior, then turned his attention to the garden. Enlisting the expertise of Charlottesville, VA landscape architect Charles J. Stick, Landman’s mission was to create a garden of which the house would be proud. By all accounts, he and his team have more than accomplished this.

The Golden Path is the thread that binds together the garden’s original six acres, leading the visitor throughout the property by presenting a series of discoveries that change from day to day and season to season. Inspired by Russell Page’s Golden Path at Pepsico, the gentle curving pathways of Landman and Stick’s master creation tie the garden to the house while enabling wonderful, often unexpected, sights and sounds to emerge.

Heard before it is seen, the Grotto is the first major encounter on the Golden Path. Inspired by William Kent’s work at Rousham Park, it gives the illusion of being carved straight out of the rock outcropping. The babbling brook that flows from its base is an added treat, meandering underneath the walkway and ending in a pool where a statue of Echo regards her reflection.

The Iris Garden and Spirt Walk are two of the most visually striking elements of the garden. Built in a zigzag pattern (thought by the Chinese to elude evil spirits), the raised Spanish cedar walkway vividly crosses the wetland, putting the visitor above the faces of 15,000 Japanese Iris, planted in such a way as to suggest a stream flowing beneath the elevated pathway.