Hildene House Hardscaping

A garden is always more than its plants and flowers. Hardscaping provides the structure and bones of the garden or landscaping. Hildene House had a great collection of hardscaping for the property and the garden. Here are some of my favorites.

Grand Entrance

An estate really should have a grand entrance, and this sweeping driveway and covered entry is a perfect. What could be more civilized than to arrive and alight from horse and buggy or car, protected from the elements?

The grand entrance at Hildene House

Observatory

Every estate should have one. Robert Todd Lincoln was an astronomy buff, and built this mini observatory for star gazing. It is still used today.

A private observatory

Fences and Walls

The house is built on a promontory overlooking the valley below. Fences and walls are nicely used to protect visitors from taking a tumble.



Wrought iron fence implanted in the cliff

Stone wall provides a protective barrier to the cliff below

Paths

Paths guide visitors, and provide protection for the land. I liked the variations of brick paths used on the estate. I was also intrigued with the use of marble.

Marble and brick path

Rustic brick path

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Green House

The green house would have been interesting while in use, but it is also interesting as a relic. It looks like some of its former plantings are now taking over.

Weathered frame of a relic greenhouse

Flower Beds

The formal flower beds are contained with clipped hedges, the cutting garden with a weather wooden fence.

Clipped hedges provide the frame for formal flower beds

Marble and clipped hedges

Weathered wood fence of the cutting garden

Arches and Pergolas

The arch leading to the kitchen and cutting garden, and the pergola of the formal garden provide an invitation to roam, and framing for the views.

Arch with seating beckons the visitor to the cutting garden

Pergola provides some shade, and a frame for the landscape
 

Hildene House

Hildene House is located near Manchester, Vermont, in the southwestern corner of the state, and was the summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln and his wife Mary Eunice (Harlan). Robert Lincoln was the only surviving son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. We visited on a moody, cloudy day that threatened rain.

Sweeping grounds of the Hildene estate

Hildene is a composite of old English words meaning hill and valley with stream, which is a perfect name. The 412 acre estate encompasses a hill overlooking a valley, meadows, and wetlands. The summer estate is now run by the Friends of Hildene. They give tours of the estate, which includes a working farm, a Pullman train car, and the house and garden.

Working farm on the Hildene estate

Lincoln (1843 – 1926) was a lawyer like his father. He was educated at Harvard University and the Old University of Chicago law school, and was admitted to the bar in 1867. He served as Secretary of War (1881 – 1885), and as United States minister to the United Kingdom (1889 – 1893). Later he worked as general counsel of the Pullman Palace Car Company, and then became its president in 1897 after George Pullman died.

Pullman Car - Lincoln was president of the Pullman Palace Car Company in later years

The house is built in the Georgian Revival style, and built on an outcrop overlooking the Battenkill Valley. A sweeping driveway delivers the visitor to the front entry. An antique red car stands at the ready. The front lawn has markings representing the size of the log cabin in which Abraham Lincoln was raised in contrast with the size of his son’s summer estate.



Front entrance of Hildene House - the sign describes the lawn markings outlining the size of Abraham Lincoln's family cabin

We toured the house interior, which is furnished with Lincoln family furniture and possessions. I was impressed with how cozy and comfortable it was. I can see why it would be a destination in the heat of summer.

Hildene House formal garden

Hoyt Formal Garden

Behind the house is the Hoyt Formal Garden. The formal beds are designed to resemble a stained glass window – with clipped hedges demarking the beds of annuals and perennials. From the house and charming garden is a beautiful view of the valley and hills beyond.  Our docent explained that in Lincoln's day, the hills would have been farmland. Over the years, they have reverted to native forest land.

Borrowed view of the valley and hills

The Family Farm

It all started with this picture of a freshly plowed field and a team of horses, with the title “In Vt.” written in the sky. This picture, and Grandma Nina’s fond stories about the World War I years she and Grandpa Lionel spent on the farm in Vermont got me wondering. Could this be the farm? There wasn’t much to go on except that low range of mountains in the background.

In Vermont

I learned that my dad's second cousin, Wesley, and his wife, June, still lived in Vermont, and contacted them via email only the week before we left for Boston. I was thrilled when Wes responded, and we arranged to meet in Vergennes, Vermont for a family tour, and then drive to Essex for a late lunch.

Vergennes, Vermont

Grandpa Lionel was born in 1884, and was raised on the family farm near Vergennes. Grandpa and his siblings swam and fished in Otter Creek, which cut through the farm. He attended Vergennes High School, and claimed to not have been a very good student, but seemed to enjoy playing football.

Grandpa Lionel (first row, far right) and the Vergennes High School football team - 1903

Grandma Nina was born in 1892. Her family owned a store in Halstead Kansas, and then moved to Rialto, California in 1905 for her father’s health. Grandma was 13. Grandpa rode the rails from Vermont to California to visit family, arriving in Rialto the day after Grandma’s family arrived. Grandpa was 21. They both attended the same church in Rialto, and Grandpa became fast friends with Grandma’s older brother, Claude.

When Grandma was 20, Grandpa proposed marriage. “Ask me again in a year,” she said. Grandma confided to me decades later that she was afraid he would forget, and not ask again. During that year, Grandma worked in a store and saved her money, and they continued to see each other in the church youth group. Grandpa didn’t forget. A year later, almost to the day, he proposed again, and this time she said yes.

Grandpa Lionel Harris - she finally said yes!

Grandma Nina - after she accepted Grandpa's proposal

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With great anticipation, my husband and I drove from The Vermont Inn to Vergennes, Vermont, up Highway 7 to meet Wes and June. I recognized Wes immediately. I could see the men of my family etched across his face, especially my Dad’s uncle, Clifford. We parked our rental car and headed off together with Wes and June for a family history tour. Wes is a genealogy and family history buff. He shared stories about the family and his recollection of the folks we share in common, and I pumped him for information (I appreciated the patience of our spouses)!



Wes and June by Otter Creek, near Otter Creek Falls 

We visited the Hawley cemetery where many of the Harris family ancestors are buried (some from the 1700s), and another cemetery where many Harris and Bristol ancestors are buried. I recognized many family names.

The Bristol Family Farm

The Harris Family Farm

Next we drove to the location of the two family farms – the Bristol farm and the Harris farm. What a thrill to see the prosperous silos of the Bristol farm on one side of the road, and the wooden barns and buildings of the Harris farm on the other. I recognized the Harris farm from the picture, with the low range of mountains in the background. Another family owns the land now, and we didn’t trouble them for a tour, but it was a great pleasure to see the farm is still in use. Here is where Grandpa spent his childhood. Here is where Grandma and Grandpa tended the farm during most of World War I, where they worked hard, but enjoyed being their own bosses.