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Hillwood Japanese Garden

Dear Imaginary Friends,

Howdy! Nothing beats a beautiful garden except for maybe a delicious meal, or a perfect painting, or a perfect cocktail... I digress!

This month, my intrepid and classy friend and I trekked over to Hillwood Gardens to see and be seen.

This garden was one of the many highlights. A famous Japanese landscaper designed this garden down the hill from Marjorie Merriweather Post's mansion. The mansion was built from the Post cereal fortune. It is not actually composed of cereal, but it might as well be. Also a big factor in building the Post fortune was Postum Coffee, which predates my existence. 

Marjorie was wealthy beyond my wildest dreams, and collected more Russian treasures, such as icons, Faberge eggs, Imperial china, and miniatures of the Russian Empire, such as portraits of Catherine the Great. Walk up the grand marble staircase and you will see portraits of Peter the Great, Catherine 's inspiration. One of Marjorie's many husbands was the Ambassador to Russia, hence the intense interest. It was right around the time of the Communist deacessioning of church treasures and all things that spoke to the previous Empire. Marjorie would visit thrift shops, where she would find bejeweled silver chalices, priests' vestments and antique icons piled in a heap. And so the heiress scooped them up.

I digress again!

In addition to being a loveletter to America's late, great wealthy lifestyle, the Hillwood mansion is an oasis of quiet with its own Adirondack cabin and a Russian dacha. Not to mention a formal French Garden with parterres and a channel pond.

If you haven't visited Hillwood, you really should. It is at its best in spring and summer when the gardens are thriving. In July, it is all about the hydrangeas and the water lillies.

You will definitely remember Marjorie's face by the time you leave: There are about 20 commissioned portraits of her!

Your Imaginary Friend,
Patsie