Touring the gardens of Kykuit can make you feel 'rich as Rockefeller'
(Read article summary)In New York's Hudson Valley, the gardens of the Rockefellers' Kykuit estate can enrich your gardening experience.
The classic tune promises that, if we just stay On the Sunny Side of the Street, we'll be "rich as Rockefeller."
On a recent trip to see the great houses of the Hudson River, we treated ourselves to a tour of Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate. It was a brilliantly sunny spring day and, after a month of rain, the gardens were lush and green. For an hour or two, we could at least feel as rich as the Rockefellers.
Why not learn from the experts?
Spectacular setting
Kykuit (Dutch for "lookout") sits atop the Pocantico Hills, near Tarrytown, N.Y., affording spectacular views of the Hudson River. The design of the formal gardens was originally commissioned to the famous landscape architect who also designed New York City's Central Park, Frederick Law Olmstead.
But John D. Rockefeller Sr. wasn't happy with the result and soon began redesigning the property himself. Ultimately, landscape architect William Welles Bosworth was called in to finish the work, creating the Beaux-Arts style gardens visitors see today.
In all, Bosworth created seven distinct gardens at Kykuit, including a Japanese garden, a morning garden, and a rose garden.
