Nancy McCabe: The Garden Designer's Own Garden

Vintage rubard forcers of terra-cotta
can also be used to protect other tender plants in the Spring.

Many outside the Northwest Corner of Connecticut as well as the adjacent Massachusetts and New York state may not be familiar with the work of garden designer, Nancy McCabe, but she has been the creative factor behind some of the most outstanding gardens in that area for over thirty years.  She is great friends with near-neighbor Bunny Williams, whose garden was featured here, and an influence of each can be seen in the gardens of both of them.

Nancy McCabe with her sons,
Sievert, then 5, and Wesley, 8.

When The Devoted Classicist first visited the Lakeville area, snow covered the ground all winter.  Although this can be a shock to a Southerner, the blanket of snow provided protection against damaging winds.  Global Warming has changed this, however, and now there are shrubs, especially, that are no longer suitable for the climate of the area.

The plan of Nancy McCable's garden in Litchfield County, Connecticut.

Nancy McCabe's garden has continued to develop over time, of course, but these photos (uncredited) from the June, 1989, issue of House Beautiful magazine, also date from a time when this writer was visiting the garden while working on a number of projects in the area.

A view of the left-hand side of the sunken garden.

The right-hand side of the sunken garden.

The new greenhouse was constructed in the traditional manner of vintage panes of glass.
This is the muntinless method of glazing, often mistakeningly called the mullionless method.

A collection of glass cloches line the potting shelf
and small pots and vintage nozzles line the narrow shelves flanking the door.

Nancy is known for her extensive use of planted containers.

Garden tools in the shed.

Nancy had been gardening as a hobby since she was ten years old and came to be noticed when she planted the area outside her husband Mike's bookstore in Salisbury, Connecticut, (now closed).  At the time, interior designer John Saladino had just purchased the handsome but neglected 20 acre estate in Norfolk, known as Robin Hill, and he asked for her help in creating new gardens;  when it was published, calls began coming in from others to enlist her help.  In addition, Saladino and Bunny Williams have recommended her for commissions. 

This and other private gardens in Litchfield County are sometimes open to the public to benefit The Garden Conservancy.  At present, the list for the 2012 participating gardens is still being put together, but watch the Open Days Program website for the announcement for sites nationwide.

Equestrian Estate, Connecticut, Part 1

The Devoted Classicist was raised in a family of horsemen, so he was thrilled at the prospect of making improvements to an equestrian estate in the beautiful rolling hills of the northwest corner of Connecticut, near the village of West Cornwall, Litchfield County.  The first phase of the project had already been completed by the immensely talented interior designer John Saladino who created a New England version of a Palladian stable block, adding-to and altering a complex of barns and sheds.  However, the owners decided to go in another decorative direction before continuing with the rest of the project of improvements for their weekend country house.  They switched to Bunny Williams, noted for her casual but chic expertise in this very type of project, and Bunny brought me in for the architecture to compliment her comprehensive new schemes for the interior design.  Collaborating with Bunny, I designed the the renovation and improvements to the main house and two guest houses, as well as a new swimming pool and adjacent shelter.  The garden design was provided by Nancy McCabe, who lives in the area near Bunny's own country house.  More of this project will be shown in future posts.

My contributions to the stable block complex involved creating staff quarters within the southern shed which also contained the garage and storage for landscape related equipment.  There was very little change to the existing exterior scheme, just a little tweaking with the addition of millwork detailing such as the pilasters framing the arched opening as shown added in the two photos above.  The granite trough, cobblestone  paving, and the distant dovecote were existing prior to my participation.

All these photos by Peter Aaron/Esto were originally published in the New York Times Magazine with later collage additions to the first two views by John Tackett Design.  The third view is a reverse of reality, however, for those trying to get their bearings.