Harkness Memorial State Park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harkness Memorial State Park (230 acres) is a park and botanical garden located at 275 Great Neck Road, Waterford, Connecticut, on the Long Island Sound. It is open to the public every day during the daylight hours.

The park was formerly Eolia, the estate of Edward Harkness, heir to a fortune initiated by his father's substantial investments in John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, who purchased the mansion in 1907. From 1918 to 1929, extensive improvements were performed by noted landscape designer Beatrix Jones Farrand. Eolia was left to Connecticut in 1950 and became part of the State Park system in 1952.

It contains a 42-room mansion surrounded by a site containing an Italian Garden, Oriental Garden, Cutting Garden, and greenhouses.

Kite aerial photo over the Harkness mansion at the Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, Connecticut.

During the 1990's,supported the State of Connecticut, and extensive restoration of the Harkness Estate and grounds occurred. The lead resoration architect for this project was British architect Roger Clarke of Canton, Connecticut. British architect Peter Clarke and consultant on historic gardens Rob Camp Fuoco also contributed to the project at this time. At this early point in the garden restoration, the 'bones' of the gardens and rudimentary shrubs and perennials were looked at and installed. During the last ten years and subsequent to this original work, a dedicated group of volunteers, the Friends of Harkness, and competent park supervisors and staff have refined the gardens and brought them forward to their current beauty and historic relevance.

For a video or photographic look at these gardens, do a google search: "harkness garden ct historic garden video rob fuoco" or google search: "jerry dougherty's connecticut'. Come visit these beautiful gardens!!