Sonnenberg Gardens


Sonnenberg Gardens
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district

Sonnenberg Mansion
Show map of New York Show map of the US
Location	151 Charlotte St., Canandaigua, New York
Coordinates	42°54′0″N 77°16′21″W / 42.90000°N 77.27250°W / 42.90000; -77.27250Coordinates: 42°54′0″N 77°16′21″W / 42.90000°N 77.27250°W / 42.90000; -77.27250
Built	1887
Architect	Bowditch, Ernest; John Handrahan.
Architectural style	Queen Anne^[1]
NRHP Reference #	73001240
Added to NRHP	September 28, 1973^[2]

Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Park is a 50-acre (20 ha) state park^[3] located at 151 Charlotte Street in Canandaigua, New York, at the north end of Canandaigua Lake, in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York. The house and gardens are open to the public every day, May through October.

History

The property was once the summer home of Frederick Ferris Thompson, a prominent banker in New York City, and his wife Mary Clark Thompson, whose father, Myron Holley Clark, was Governor of New York State in 1855. The Clark family was from Canandaigua. Mr. & Mrs. Thompson's main home was in NYC in a large townhouse on Madison Avenue. The Thompsons purchased the Sonnenberg property in 1863, keeping the name, Sonnenberg (which means "sunny hill" in German). In 1887, they replaced the original farmhouse with a forty-room Queen Anne style mansion. The property also had a 100-acre (40 ha) farm to the east. Sonnenberg's gardens were designed and built between 1902–1919, and originally consisted of nine gardens in a variety of styles.

The Thompsons had no children. The nephew who inherited the estate after Mary Clark Thompson's death in 1923 sold the property to the Federal Government in 1931, who built a veteran's hospital (today the Canandaigua VA Medical Center) on the adjacent farmland.^[1] The government used the mansion to house doctor's families and some nurses. In 1972, by an act of Congress called the Sonnenberg Bill, the mansion and its grounds were transferred from the Federal Government to a local non-profit organization formed to restore and reopen the property.^[1] It was opened to the public in 1973. All nine gardens have been restored and visitors can tour the mansion. In 2005, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation bought the estate. It is still operated by the non-profit.

Gardens

Today most of the gardens have been restored, as follows:

The Conservatory - A Lord & Burnham conservatory complex, built between 1903 and 1915, and considered one of the most important residential greenhouse complexes in the United States. The complex includes a domed Palm House, with other glass houses featuring orchids, cacti, and tropical plants.
Japanese Garden - A miniature mountainous Japanese landscape, with torii gate. It is said that its tea house was modeled upon a very old tea house in Kyoto, since destroyed by fire. In addition, there is a statue of Buddha.
Sub Rosa Garden - A green garden (having no flowers) with white marble fountain complex set off by green lawn, boxwood, and evergreens. The fountain is Zeus, with Artemis and Apollo.
Rose Garden - A belvedere with over 2,500 rose bushes. The main beds are red, white, and pink; other beds are more varied in color.
Italian Garden - Four sunken parterres in a fleur-de-lis pattern, bordered by yews, with about 20,000 annuals in the bedding.
Blue & White Garden - Blue and white flowers with a Zelkova japonica tree in the center.
Pansy Garden - Planted with pansies with a delightful pedestal fountain as the centerpiece.
Moonlight Garden - Only white flowers, blooming late afternoon, and many fragrant. Includes heliotrope, tuberoses and verbenas.
Old-Fashioned Garden - A geometric garden, in which a low boxwood hedge forms the quincunx pattern of five circles. Four quarter sections, each with a center circle, are filled with annuals and perennials surrounded with diagonal interesecting walks, and an arbor in the center bisects the fifth circle.
Rock Garden - Formerly three gardens (the Wild Garden, the Lily Garden, and the Rock Garden), completed in 1919, but now merged to form an informal, wooded garden. Its path winds through a canyon constructed of puddingstone, with natural pockets and crannies used for alpine plants. Water includes 500 feet (150 m) of streams, waterfalls, and pools fed by geysers and springs.
Grounds were planted with many specimen trees (some planted by important guests), now numbering over 140 varieties.

Mansion

Built between 1885 and 1887, the 40-room Queen Anne style mansion was designed by Francis Allen, a noted Boston architect. Allen also designed and oversaw the remodeling of the mansion approximately 15 years after it was constructed. Two of the three floors are furnished and open to the public.^[4]

The mansion's facade is rusticated graystone with Medina sandstone trim and gables made from timber and stucco. The roof is slate with lead-coated copper.

Other attractions

In addition to the nine gardens and mansion, the property hosts the Finger Lakes Wine Center, where a number of local wines are available for tasting and purchase, housed in the Bay House, Also in the Bay House, is a fine gift shop.

A cafe is located in the Gardener's House serving light lunches.

References

1 2 3 Morrell, Alan (September 23, 2012). "Garden grew from Gilded Age mansion". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. Gannett Company. p. 5K. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
↑ National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
↑ "Section O: Environmental Conservation and Recreation, Table O-9". 2014 New York State Statistical Yearbook (PDF). The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. 2014. p. 674. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
↑ The Sonnenberg Mansion

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Park.

U.S. National Register of Historic Places in New York
Topics	Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types
Lists by county	Albany Allegany Bronx Broome Cattaraugus Cayuga Chautauqua Chemung Chenango Clinton Columbia Cortland Delaware Dutchess Erie Essex Franklin Fulton Genesee Greene Hamilton Herkimer Jefferson Kings (Brooklyn) Lewis Livingston Madison Monroe Montgomery Nassau New York (Manhattan) Niagara Oneida Onondaga Ontario Orange Orleans Oswego Otsego Putnam Queens Rensselaer Richmond (Staten Island) Rockland Saratoga Schenectady Schoharie Schuyler Seneca St. Lawrence Steuben Suffolk Sullivan Tioga Tompkins Ulster Warren Washington Wayne Westchester Northern Southern Wyoming Yates
Lists by city	Albany Buffalo New Rochelle New York City Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Manhattan Below 14th St. 14th–59th St. 59th–110th St. Above 110th St. Minor islands Niagara Falls Peekskill Poughkeepsie Rhinebeck Rochester Syracuse Yonkers
Other lists	Bridges and tunnels National Historic Landmarks
Category:National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Portal:National Register of Historic Places

Protected areas of New York

Federal

National Historic Sites, Parks and Districts	Christman Eleanor Roosevelt Harriet Tubman Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt Martin Van Buren Sagamore Hill Saint Paul's Church Saratoga Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Women's Rights Erie Canalway Kate Mullany affiliated Thomas Cole affiliated
National Memorials	Federal Hall General Grant Hamilton Grange Statue of Liberty
National Monuments	African Burial Ground Castle Clinton Fort Stanwix Governors Island Stonewall
National Trails	Appalachian Trail North Country Trail
National Seashores and Recreation Areas	Fire Island Gateway Upper Delaware
National Wildlife Refuges	Iroquois Long Island Complex Amagansett Conscience Point Elizabeth A. Morton Lido Beach Oyster Bay Sayville Seatuck Target Rock Wertheim Montezuma Shawangunk Grasslands Wallkill River
National Forests	Finger Lakes
Wilderness Areas	Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune

State parks

State historic sites

Preserves and sanctuaries

Public preserves	Albany Pine Bush Forest Preserve Adirondack Park Saint Regis Canoe Area Santanoni Preserve wilderness areas Catskill Park Hudson River Estuary Long Island Pine Barrens Reinstein Woods Rome Sand Plains Tahawus Vischer Ferry Welwyn
The Nature Conservacy	Accabonac Harbor Andy Warhol Visual Arts Arthur W. Butler Memorial Atlantic Double Dunes Bear Swamp Calverton Ponds Chaumont Barrens Clintonville Pine Barrens Coon Mountain Deer Lick Denton El Dorado Beach Eugene and Agnes Meyer Everton Falls Freund Gadway Sandstone Pavement Barrens Hannacroix Ravine Henry Morgenthau Indian Brook Assemblage Ironsides Island Kenrose Limestone Rise Lisha Kill Long Island Center for Conservation Long Pond Lordsland Lower Poultney River and Saddles Marrion Yarrow Mashomack Mianus River Gorge Mildred E. Grierson Memorial Moccasin Kill Montauk Mountain Moss Lake Mount Holly Nellie Hill Neversink O.D. von Engeln Otter Creek Pawling Peconic Estuary Big Woods Pine Neck Roger Perry Memorial Ruth Wales Schunemunk Mountain Shadmoor Silver Lake Bog Spring Pond Bog Stewart Lewis A. Swyer Thompson Pond and Stissing Mountain Uplands Farm West Branch Whitbeck Memorial Grove
Other preserves	Angle Fly Baxter Bergen-Byron Swamp Black Rock Forest Brandreth Park Calder Center Louis C. Clark Cornell Botanic Gardens Ferncliff Forest Heiberg Memorial Forest James Lime Hollow Mohonk Peabody Plotter Kill Sagamore Camp Sam's Point Teatown Lake Turkey Mountain Turner Brook Theodore Roosevelt Wallkill Valley Woodlawn Zurich Bog

Other (lists)
National Historic Landmarks National Natural Landmarks Botanical gardens Nature centers New York City parks POPS WWI New York state forests wild historic sites parks wildlife management areas Trails rail trails

Category
NYS DEC
NYS OPRHP

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.