The property’s rectangular plan was designed by Kiley as a garden that reflects and expands upon the order of the house. It is a highly structured plan with a strong emphasis on orthogonal geometry, but without conventional symmetry. The house is positioned on the west side of the main entrance drive which is flanked by an allée of horse chestnut trees. From there, the landscape is divided into several outdoor rooms with the areas adjacent to the house responding to the uses of the corresponding interior spaces. For instance, the swimming pool is located near the children’s bedrooms and a grove of flowering trees is visible from the dining area.

Photo © Esto

The landscape’s grandest feature is an allée of honey locust trees that defines an axis along the west side of the house.

Although not part of the original plan, each end of the allée was eventually anchored by a sculpture: to the north was a bronze “Draped Reclining Woman (1958)” by Henry Moore, and to the south a walled backdrop and bas-relief mounted sculpture, “Man with Guitar (1923)” by Jacques Lipchitz. The sculptures have since been removed. The allée extends almost to the limits of the property. With finely textured, buff-colored, crushed stone beneath the entire allée, the dark honey locusts stand out in sharp contrast, their lacy foliage gently filtering the sunlight. To the west, moving towards the river, is a sloping open lawn area referred to as “the meadow.” This area is edged along its southern perimeter with a row of red maples, and to its west, along the river banks is a natural, wooded area.

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