Restoration of the formal gardens began in 2008 with a generous donation from the Carson family. The gardens were designed by famed landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman, who also designed gardens for the Rockefellers, Fords, and other wealthy entrepreneurs. At one point, more than 600 of her gardens dotted the American landscape, but today only a handful remain in their original condition. This is one of the only Shipman gardens open to the public free of charge. Historically, the garden was lit at night with multicolored landscaping lights that once shone down on it from above.
