Durham -- Kalmia Garden at Gastler Farm
Object Details
sova.aag.gca_ref33204
- General
- In 2008 the third generation owner of Gastler farm retired from his nursery and landscape design business, leased most of the original 46 acre property and retained five acres with the 1830's late Federal farmhouse, outbuildings and gently sloping fields, and developed a community venue for music and the arts for the fourth generation, called Kalmia Garden. In the early 20th century the family had a dairy farm while raising wholesale crops and maintaining a roadside stand to sell their flowers, sweet corn and strawberries. There was a poultry farm, field-grown pansies were hybridized and sold in another era, and the nursery business was known for its large field grown trees and shrubs. Native stones that had been unearthed over the last century's cultivation were used to build retaining and free standing walls to develop gardens on five acres. Huge Portland, Connecticut brownstones that had been salvaged from a nearby abandoned bridge abutment also were used in the hardscape. In total more one half mile of dry stone walls was built, evoking the archetypical New England farm and functioning as the bones of the landscape. Native and specimen trees and shrubs from the nursery business were relocated among towering trees planted by earlier generations that include a Norway spruce and a sugar maple each more than one hundred years old. Historic farm implements are features: a 1910 horse-drawn sickle mower sits under a Japanese cypress near an 18th century carriage house moved here in the 1950's; cast iron wheels from an 1890's steam tractor lean against remnants of the corn crib's stone foundation; a vintage stone well cover is stood upright next to a 1907 stone and cement ice house. A contemporary barn-board sided addition to the farmhouse built in 2014 has a chef's kitchen, and food grown on the farm is shared with neighbors, friends, helpers and visitors. There is interest in developing a farm-to-table business, too. Entering the property there is a meditation garden with irregular island beds of mixed conifers, and around the bend there is a memory garden, a small triangular space enclosed by stone walls that was a seed bed in the past, now used to cultivate Solomon's seal. The large vegetable garden beds are separated by wide grass walkways with a long herbaceous border opposite the 1916 barn. Crops include herbs, tomatoes, sweet corn, peppers, beans, squash, rhubarb and strawberries. There are mixed garden beds around each outbuilding accented with nursery stock. An extended paved patio next to the house has colorful annuals growing in containers and in a 1650 English stone sink. Across the lawn there is another curved dry stone wall known as the wedding wall. There is a Victorian style gazebo built of red cedar that was installed in 1981, its sides covered by morning glory. The newest space, the event garden, is a large walled lawn with native trees and shrubs surrounding the low walls. The parking garden is terraced with a stone retaining wall and an impressive view of the Coginchaug River valley. Persons associated with the garden include: Charles Miller (former owner, 1873-1875); L.M. and Oscar Leash (former owners, 1875-1884); Olean Miller (former owner, 1884-1905); Nehemiah Burr (former owner, 1905); Gastler family (former owners, 1905-2006); Timothy Gastler (owner, 2006- ).
- Provenance
- Middletown Garden Club
- Photographer
- Murawski, Pat
- Owner
- Gastler, Timothy
- Photographer
- Murawski, Pat
- Collection Creator
- Garden Club of America
- Topic
- Gardens -- Connecticut -- Durham
- Provenance
- Middletown Garden Club
- Photographer
- Murawski, Pat
- Owner
- Gastler, Timothy
- Photographer
- Murawski, Pat
- See more items in
- The Garden Club of America collection
- The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / Connecticut
- Sponsor
- A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
- Custodial History
- Middletown Garden Club facilitated the submission of this garden's documentation.
- Archival Repository
- Archives of American Gardens
- Identifier
- AAG.GCA, File CT761
- Type
- Archival materials
- Collection Citation
- Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
- Collection Rights
- Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
- Scope and Contents
- 35 digital images (2016-2018) and 1 file folder. Images 001-035 under copyright: Pat Murawski, photographer.
- Collection Restrictions
- Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
AAG.GCA_ref33204
Large EAD
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6373e474b-d618-41e6-8c39-454ee1a9b32c
AAG.GCA
AAG
- Record ID
- ebl-1643208220039-1643210177519-1
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
1 result(s)
-
The Garden Club of America collection
sova.aag.gca
- Creator
- Garden Club of America
- Names
- New York Flower Show
- Topic
- Gardens -- France
- Gardens -- Italy
- Gardens -- Japan
- Gardens -- Mexico
- Flower shows
- Gardening -- United States -- societies, etc
- Gardens -- England
- Landscape architecture
- Gardens -- United States
- Gardens -- Spain
- Gardens -- Scotland
- Creator
- Garden Club of America
- See more items in
- The Garden Club of America collection
- Sponsor
- A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
- Summary
- This collection contains over 37,000 35mm slides, 3,000 glass lantern slides and garden files that may include descriptive information, photocopied articles (from journals, newspapers, or books), planting lists, correspondence, brochures, landscape plans and drawings. Garden files were compiled by Garden Club of America (GCA) members for most of the gardens included in the collection. Some gardens have been photographed over the course of several decades; others only have images from a single point in time. In addition to images of American gardens, there are glass lantern slides of the New York Flower Show (1941-1951) and trips that GCA members took to other countries, including Mexico (1937), Italy, Spain, Japan (1935), France (1936), England (1929), and Scotland. A number of the slides are copies of historic images from outside repositories including horticultural and historical societies or from horticultural books and publications. The GCA made a concerted effort in the mid-1980s to acquire these images in order to increase its documentation of American garden history. Because of copyright considerations, use of these particular images may be restricted.
- Accruals note
- The GCA continues to document American gardens and submit images and documentation to the Archives of American Gardens. Further accruals are expected.
- Biographical/Historical note
- The Garden Club of America was established in 1913 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when the Garden Club of Philadelphia and eleven other garden clubs met to create a national garden club. Its purpose is to foster the knowledge and love of gardening and to restore and protect the quality of the environment through educational programs and gardening and conservation efforts. The GCA was incorporated in Delaware in 1923, with its headquarters established in New York City. Today, local clubs are organized under twelve regional zones. The GCA continues its tradition of hosting flower shows and publishing material related to gardening in the United States. The GCA's glass lantern slides were used by The GCA for presentations and lectures about notable gardens throughout the United States dating back to colonial times. An effort was made in the late 1980s, in preparation of the 75th anniversary of the Garden Club of America's founding, to collect the disbursed slides. These slides were to eventually form the Slide Library of Notable American Parks and Gardens. The informational value of this collection is extensive since a number of images of the more than 4,500 gardens represented show garden designs that have changed over time or no longer exist. While the majority of images document a range of designed upper and upper-middle class gardens throughout the U.S., the scope of the collection is expanding as volunteers photograph and document contemporary gardens including community and vernacular gardens. The gardens illustrate the design work of dozens of landscape architects including Marian Coffin, Beatrix Farrand, Lawrence Halprin, Hare & Hare, Umberto Innocenti, Gertrude Jekyll, Jens Jensen, Warren Manning, the Olmsted Brothers, Charles Platt, Ellen Biddle Shipman, and Fletcher Steele. Because of their proximity to the gardens, works of notable architects and sculptors may also be featured in the images.
- Extent
- 37000 Slides (photographs) (35mm slides)
- 33 Linear feet ((garden files))
- 3,000 Lantern slides
- Date
- circa 1920-present
- Custodial History note
- The GCA's Slide Library of Notable American Parks and Gardens was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 1992; this became the core collection of the Archives of American Gardens.
- Archival Repository
- Archives of American Gardens
- Identifier
- AAG.GCA
- Type
- Collection descriptions
- Archival materials
- Slides (photographs)
- Lantern slides
- Plans (drawings)
- Brochures
- Articles
- Correspondence
- Clippings
- Citation
- Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
- Rights
- Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
- Genre/Form
- Plans (drawings)
- Brochures
- Articles
- Correspondence
- Clippings
- Lantern slides
- Slides (photographs)
- Restrictions
- Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
AAG.GCALarge EADhttps://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb617385372-1028-4cb7-b07d-04fea2e51c47AAG.GCAAAG- Record ID
- ebl-1562776092361-1562776095300-0