Blithewood Garden at Bard College
All Work | Bard College, Annandale, New York
Blithewood Garden at Bard College
Annandale, New York
Scope
A classic example of an historic walled Italianate garden, Blithewood Garden was designed circa 1903 by Francis L. V. Hoppin. Situated on a bluff above the Hudson River, the Blithewood manor is a 45-acre section of the Bard College campus that was once part of a historic estate comprising a manor house, outbuildings, drives, gardens, lawns, and meadows. Located in the heart of the Hudson River National Historic Landmark District, Blithewood Garden today remains beautiful. Blithewood Garden is a quintessentially architectural garden. It follows the traditional Italianate design, with an at-ground plane, paths on geometric axes, symmetrical beds, a central water feature, statuary, marble ornaments, and walls that form an enclosure, creating a green “room.” Blithewood Garden is a haven.
The landscape and plantings at the garden have relatively simple to maintain compared to the architectural features, thus deterioration of wooden, terra cotta, and stone features has been a problem. In order to address the deterioration, Bard College and The Garden Conservancy enlisted the services of JHPArchitects PC and ICR/ICC who assembled a team that included materials conservators, structural engineers, and landscape architects. The team produced a set of restoration documents to be used by the college to move forward with an appropriate restoration program.