A Garden of Historic Importance Blooms Again
Gardens are by their very nature ephemeral. But the best of them are imbued with a kind of magic—holding within themselves their evolution; and with that, they endure. Lithgow in Millbrook is one such garden.
Lithgow is the name of an estate that dates to 1685, and the Nine Partners Patent. The original grantee, a Bible-burning renegade from Lithgow, Scotland, hightailed it to America. His grandson built the Dutch Colonial house in 1758 that still stands, though it’s been much expanded and renovated over the years.
Part of the magic of Lithgow is that in nearly three-and-a-half centuries, the property has only changed hands four times. The constancy speaks to the natural beauty of the setting, and to the commitment of people who have seen themselves as caretakers as much as owners.
The garden that exists today was the creative obsession of Eliot and Susie Clarke. Eliot bought the property in the 1960s and immediately set to work. World travelers, Eliot and Susie found inspiration everywhere they went. The arcing footbridge over the pond, the red gate, the pagoda built on the pier jutting into the lake were all inspired by gardens they visited in Asia. The Folly, a temple that sits on one of the highest points of the property with a view over a vast landscape of countryside, is reminiscent of ones they saw in England—English gardens being famous for follies.
The current owners, Karen Bechtel and Will Osborne, were good friends of the Clarkes. Eliot died in the spring of 2019, and Susie put the property on the market the following year. “We had been gardening buddies,” Bechtel says. “We shared plants and info.”
Their commitment to Lithgow’s historical value, their love of the garden, and their respect for their friends’ creation guided the renovation. “We didn’t change the footprint of the house, barn, carriage house, or garden. But there was work to be done.”
Bechtel turned to floral designer and gardener Felicity Banford, a mutual friend of hers and the Clarkes, to help bring it into its newest phase. Bechtel says, “We had a great time, just had a ball! We worked every day for two years. We started by thinning out the plantings, and we moved the rose garden. And created two new rooms.”
It’s not just one garden: It’s allees of trees leading to a pond, or a pergola; it’s hidden grottos; it’s room after room punctuated by statuary or massive urns; it’s an inviting swath of lawn drawing you down to the water’s edge; it’s a rose garden, an orchard, and masses of ferns. Then too, there is Will Ryman’s oversized rose sculpture of painted metal, which Bechtel and Osborne bought as a whimsical tribute to Eliot.
Bechtel was guided by a requirement of her own. “Something had to be in bloom at all times, from early summer through mid-fall. When you walk around the grounds there is always something in flower.”
For many years, Lithgow was also a deer park. The Clarkes raised fallow deer for meat, selling the venison to restaurants in New York City. In an homage to the deer, lifelike statues of stags abound, peeking out from the woods and shrubbery, and standing guard near the entrance.
Both Bechtel and Osborne have a high regard for the history of the property and the beauty of the land. “We wanted to have a legacy asset to leave to our children and grandchildren and their heirs,” Bechtel says. With their care and attention to detail, Lithgow’s magic will endure into the next century.
By Tara Kelly
Photographs by Rana Faure