Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, North Carolina, began in 1886 as the private garden of the Pembroke Jones family, created by Sarah Green Jones and later reshaped by landscape architect Rudolf Topel into a picturesque Southern landscape. Opened to the public after New Hanover County purchased it in 1999, the 67-acre grounds are known for extensive plantings and for the Airlie Oak, a southern live oak about 500 years old that was recognized in 2007 as the largest live oak in North Carolina. The site also includes Mount Lebanon Chapel and Cemetery and is associated with artist Minnie Evans, who worked there and painted Airlie Oak in 1954.