Over a six-month period in 1906, a crew of seven Japanese workers led by landscape designer K. Wadamori, sculpted what was previously a one-acre apple orchard into an authentic Japanese Garden. They transformed a gently-sloping lawn into a garden of rolling hills, pools, and winding brooks, building the hills from the soil removed to create the pools. William Hornaday, in his Masterpieces in Garden-Making, a tribute to Mrs. Thompson's gardens, writes that "a vale of paradise cannot be to mortal eye and brain any more perfect; or one degree more exquisitely beautiful, than Sonnenberg's Japanese Garden in July, 1916. The same crew of Japanese workers returned in 1908 to build the Tea House, which was modeled after a tea house in KYOTO, Japan. The Tea House served as a gathering place for Mrs. Thompson's guests and a playhouse for visiting children. This beautiful garden is a favorite of many staff and volunteers at Sonnenberg, and they often visit the garden seeking solace from the daily workload. Restoration and replanting continues as we work to return the Japanese Garden to its former splendor.
Comments 0 comments