The Fells
Newbury, New Hampshire
October 2008
The Fells is a late 19th/early 20th
century summer estate in central New Hampshire, once the
home of John Hay, a former U.S. Secretary of State. A
22-room Colonial Revival house sits on an 84 acre site
bordering on the John Hay National Wildlife Refuge. The
property is listed on the National Register of Historic
Places.
The house and gardens are set way back from the road. The
1/4 mile long gravel driveway makes it obvious this was a
summer house. Getting to it in winter would be a challenge
today, quite an ordeal 100 years ago. Fortunately the day
of my visit was the height of fall color season and the way
through the woods is beautiful in the fall.
I didn't find the house to be anything special. It's big,
but compared to many other estate garden houses I've
visited, it seems pretty ordinary.
However, the grounds are
beautiful. There's not much in bloom this time of year but
the fall colors are spectacular and the layout of the
gardens is very nice. One of the first things I noticed was
the use of granite everywhere. On one end of the house is a
grassy terrace surrounded by flower beds and a granite
wall. It's called the Rose Terrace and the borders are full
of rose bushes. They don't look like anything now but I'll
bet they are something in summer. Sadly, this is true of
most of the gardens. In front of the house is a 100 foot
long perennial border, originally established in 1926 and
renovated in 1995. I'd love to get back and see it in
summer, but now it's invisible.
The flower gardens may not be
much, but there is still a lot to see and like. I loved the
rock garden. It was constructed in the 1930's using native
granite. I'm usually pretty critical of gardens that are
poorly labelled so I shouldn't have like this rock garden
so much. There are almost no labels and most of the plants
looked pretty bedraggled this time of year, but the layout
of it, the way it nestles naturally into the hillside
looking like it has been here forever, really appealed to
me. Despite being poorly labelled and quite small, it might
be my favorite rock garden.
From the rock garden, you can
glimpse the lake below. It's a beautiful view through the
fall colors.
A short walk through the
woods brings you to the shores of Lake Sunapee.
Another highlight is the Old
Garden. It was established in 1909 as three formal walled
gardens, but has been neglected for years and now has the
feel of a ruin in the woods. It is slated for renovation
and I hope they can do it without entirely losing the
atmosphere it now has.
Overall, I liked this garden
a lot more than I expected to. The spectacular fall color
was part of it, but I also really liked the lost garden
feel of it. The place seems well-maintaind but at the same
time there is a very natural feel to the place, like it was
just 'discovered' by the clearing of woods. I'd like to see
more interpretation, and more plant labels would really add
to the experience, but it's a really enjoyable way to spend
a couple of hours.
Click here to visit the Fells website.
To see more pictures of The Fells, click
here.