The Woodlands

This wooded part of the property historically formed a somewhat overgrown buffer between the Griswold family's farm fields and Lyme Street. Archival photographs show artists setting up easels there for views of the Griswold House, and Florence Griswold walked along its edge by Mile Brook, which separates the property from that of the Lyme Art Association. Today, native plantings restore the shaded character of this area with ferns, anemones, and mountain laurel like those that attracted painters to Old Lyme late each spring. In the 1930s, Lyme Colony artist William S. Robinson leased a studio from Miss Florence, a wooden shed that until the 1980s stood near where the path curves. Plans for restoring the historic landscape include marking the Robinson studio site, extending the path to connect with the meadow along the Lieutenant River, planting the parking areas with native thickets friendly to birds and insects, and using permeable paving to clean stormwater before it enters the nearby watershed.

Old Lyme, Connecticut · United States