Object Details
- General
- The garden won the 1995 Gold Medal Visiting Garden Award from the Massachusetts Horicultural Society.
- Persons associated with the property include: Harry and Ada Milman (former owners, 1946-1971); Marius Van Der Pol (landscaper, 1947); Eduardo Medeiros (landscaper, 1971); Edgar Tafel (architect, 1946); Allen C. Haskell (landscape designer and horticulturist, 1971-1979); Marvin Krosinsky (architect, 1971); Martin Frauwirth (architect, 1971); William Turnbull (sculptor); William King (sculptor); Howard Newman (sculptor); and Jeff Jajac (sculptor).
- The Levin garden has evolved since 1946. The owners, who purchased it in 1971, are hands on gardeners and plant collectors whose passions include roses, succulents, hostas, Japanese maples, flowering trees and conifers. The property came with an orchard, some fine shade trees and the skilled help of gardener Eddie Medeiros. They added a pool and tennis court and invited noted local horticulturist and nursery owner Allen C. Haskell to collaborate. Over 20 years Haskell added significant trees and garden rooms – a secret garden, hostas, rhododendrons, dogwoods and conifers. In 2004 the owners decided to incorporate 3 previously unused acres and asked Nan Sinton and David Michener, Sinton & Michener Associates, to take a fresh look. Adding a perimeter deer exclusion fence around the entire property, Sinton expanded and re-thought the design into a landscape of long views and hidden surprises to compliment the Prairie style architecture of the house, designed in 1946 by architect Edgar Tafel, Frank Lloyd Wright's Clerk of the Works. Expanding from the original rose garden, vegetable bed, swimming pool and secret garden, Sinton added a half moon terrace by the house and opened an existing stone wall to create a vista and access. New sculptures and benches were added. A stepping stone walk bisects a border of summer tropicals opposite a border of hydrangeas, bananas and roses backed by an evergreen hedge. In summer the swimming pool displays a collection of tender succulents and a fantasy planting of dwarf conifers and hardy succulents mulched with colored glass. The secret garden hidden behind the tennis court now includes a rustic bench. The rear acres were cleared of brush and debris, re-contoured and planted with banks of evergreens massed behind colored foliage shrubs, native perennials and grasses. A broad walk through this "color meadow" leads past tall southern magnolias and hydrangeas to a mysterious stumpery and a newly planted woodland featuring Japanese maples and Asian plants. Nan Sinton calls it a "contemporary stroll garden."
- Former owner
- Milman, Harry
- Milman, Ada
- Landscaper
- Van Der Pol, Marius
- Medeiros, Eduardo
- Architect
- Tafel, Edgar
- Krosinsky, Marvin
- Frauwirth, Martin
- Sculptor
- Turnbull, William
- King, William
- Newman, Howard
- Jajac, Jeff
- Landscape designer
- Haskell, Allen C.
- Horticulturist
- Haskell, Allen C.
- Provenance
- Garden Club of Buzzards Bay
- Collection Creator
- Garden Club of America
- Place
- Levin Garden (Dartmouth, Massachusetts)
- United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Bristol County -- Dartmouth
- Topic
- Gardens -- Massachusetts -- Dartmouth
- Former owner
- Milman, Harry
- Milman, Ada
- Landscaper
- Van Der Pol, Marius
- Medeiros, Eduardo
- Architect
- Tafel, Edgar
- Krosinsky, Marvin
- Frauwirth, Martin
- Sculptor
- Turnbull, William
- King, William
- Newman, Howard
- Jajac, Jeff
- Landscape designer
- Haskell, Allen C.
- Horticulturist
- Haskell, Allen C.
- Provenance
- Garden Club of Buzzards Bay
- See more items in
- The Garden Club of America collection
- The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Gardens / Massachusetts
- Sponsor
- A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
- Custodial History
- The Garden Club of Buzzard's Bay facilitated the submission of this garden's documentation in 1999 and the re-documentation in 2024.
- Archival Repository
- Archives of American Gardens
- Identifier
- AAG.GCA, File MA154
- Type
- Archival materials
- Collection Citation
- Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
- Collection Rights
- Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
- Bibliography
- The garden was featured in the Boston Globe, Spring 1998.
- Scope and Contents
- Levin Garden related holdings consist of 2 folders (1 physical and 1 digital), 16 35 mm. slides, and 108 digital images.
- Collection Restrictions
- Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
- Record ID
- ebl-1643208220039-1643210180759-1
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