Rock Garden

The Rock Garden evolved over a number of years from three distinct gardens—the Rock, Wild, and Lily gardens—which were completed around 1911. Its uppermost level holds the summerhouse. In 1914, a second phase expanded the garden with a man-made canyon and an arched bridge composed of Onondaga limestone from a quarry north of Sonnenberg. Around 1920, John Handrahan, Mary Clark Thompson’s landscape architect, completed the cascading waterfall and pool, using the estate’s natural ridges, hollows, and wild areas to create dramatic garden, waterfall, and pool features. A careful selection of over 190 different plants kept the garden continuously in bloom from spring until winter, with several hundred perennial plants covering the grounds and rock cress, stonecrop, and candytuft blooming in profusion in its early years. The continuous blooming cycle and seemingly wild state of the gardens created a unique, more natural experience within the planned landscape. The garden’s stone arch was designed by landscape architect John Handrahan, who was originally employed by Ernest W. Bowditch of Boston before leaving the firm to dedicate himself fully to the estate’s gardens.

Canandaigua, New York · United States