Bellefield

This site is comprised of the remaining 23 acres of a property acquired by Thomas and Sarah Newbold in 1885 and features a Federal and Colonial Revival residence and a walled garden. Constructed in 1795, the residence was redesigned from 1909 to 1911 by architects McKim, Mead & White. In 1912 Newbold engaged his cousin, landscape gardener Beatrix Farrand, to design a garden south of the residence. The linear, walled garden features a series of three rooms that descend from the home, each enclosed by hemlock hedging and traditional native stone walls. The widest section of the garden is nearest to the house and originally featured an elm tree that Farrand incorporated into the design. The other two sections become narrower as the garden proceeds south, creating the illusion of a forced perspective. Other areas featured a rose garden, a lilac and fruit-tree allée, a boxwood parterre, and a kitchen garden. Farrand also designed several gates with distinctive ornamental embellishments, including one at the garden’s southern terminus.

The property was donated to the National Park Service (NPS) in 1976, after which the garden fell into disrepair. In 1994 the Beatrix Farrand Garden Association was established to restore the garden. Although the bones of the garden were intact, most of the plantings, as well as the original planting plans, had disappeared. Necessary repairs and replacements were made to the gates and other features using Farrand’s original sketches, while plant selections were made following a nearby garden designed by Farrand during the same period. The former residence hosts NPS administrative offices while the garden is maintained by the Beatrix Farrand Garden Association and is publicly accessible. Since 1980 Bellefield has been a contributing feature of the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site.