Jay gardens in Rye to get $1.5 million makeover
- Some parts date to the 1700s
- Abandoned 1950s pool to become a reflecting pool
- Will use native plants along with vegetables%2C flowers
The Jay Heritage Center in Rye has raised nearly all of the $1.5 million it needs for the restoration of its historic gardens, some of which date to the 1700s. Site preparation should begin this spring, and the final 1 1/2-acre public gardens should be completed over the next three years.
The Jay Estate was the boyhood home of John Jay, the first chief justice of the United States. The centerpiece of the property is a magnificent 1838 Greek Revival mansion with soaring Corinthian columns. It was built by Jay's eldest son, Peter Augustus, atop the footprint of his father and grandfather's original home. There is also a charming 1907 Classical Revival carriage house on the Boston Post Road site.
Over the last few years, the nonprofit Jay Center, which has partnered with the state and the Westchester County Parks Department to maintain and preserve the 23-acre Jay property, raised $500,000 toward the restoration of the gardens. Then in early December, it won a $500,000 matching grant from the state Regional Economic Development Council.
On Dec. 18, a fundraising luncheon garnered another $350,000, bringing the total to $1.35 million for the restoration of the gardens.
"They will not be historically accurate gardens," says Suzanne Clary, president of the Jay Heritage Center. "Instead, they will be sustainable, using as many native plants wherever we can. We want them to be outdoor classrooms for adults and children."
"It's not so much a restoration, but a rehabilitation of the area," she says.
Thomas Woltz of the prestigious landscape architecture firm of Nelson Byrd Woltz is working on a concept plan, and by summer, the Heritage Center hopes to have a 3-D model in hand.
"We're calling them garden rooms, with three different spaces," Clary explains. "Each will have a different theme, a different feeling to it."
An existing 1822 stone wall, called a ha-ha wall, will serve as the anchor for the refurbished gardens.
Going out from the mansion, the first garden "will have some sort of boxwood parterre, with a mix of flowers and vegetables, with pathways," she says. "We know the Jays had boxwoods."
The second room will turn an old swimming pool from the 1950s into a reflecting pool of some sort. "It will be more of a meditation-style garden," Clary says.
"The third will be the simplest of the three," she says, and will hopefully recreate a 100-foot rose arbor.
Restoring and reimagining the old gardens is the first phase in the private-public partnership between the state and the county, Clary says. Next would come the restoration of the giant meadow that flows down toward Long Island Sound and the various other buildings on the property.
The Jay Heritage Center is at 210 Boston Post Road in Rye. In winter, the grounds are usually open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, Clary says.
