PRESERVATION BEGINS: 



The Old Garden 

 at the Hay Estate 



Bill Noble 



he gardens and landscape of The Fells, the 

 former summer home of the Hay family and 

 now a National Wildlife Refuge, State His- 

 toric Site, and project of The Garden Con- 

 servancy, offer exciting opportunities for gardeners 

 and others interested in landscape history and gar- 

 den design As )ohn Hay, naturalist and author, ob- 

 serves, "This location has remained true to the integ- 

 rity of the New Hampshire landscape, never having 

 overwhelmed it. There is a balance between the wild 

 and the tamed Trees climb the hills and encourage 

 one to feel that there are greater distances to find, 

 out beyond the horizon." An example of this balance 

 is found in the Old Garden, the first garden built on 



the site and one that deserves a sensitive approach 

 to its preservation in a cultural and natural setting. 



During the late 1880s, lohn Hay combined nine 

 farms into a single estate and built a cottage under 

 hundred-year-old sugar maples. The Hays enjoyed 

 the scenery, fresh air, and open fields above the 

 lake in the company of family and friends. After |ohn 

 Hay's death in 1905, The Fells passed to his son 

 Clarence, who soon began to alter it to suit his 

 tastes While still a student at Harvard, Clarence 

 built the formal walled garden and a log cabin which 

 he used for hunting and fishing trips. In 1914, he 

 married the young Alice Appleton. She was more ac- 

 customed to the cultivated farmland of Ipswich, Mas- 



AUGUST/ SEPTEMBER 



23 



