Blog Memories: Visiting Turkey Hill
Here's the blog I posted after a memorable visit back to Turkey Hill, my former home in Westport Connecticut, in June of 2017.
I am so happy to share photos with you from my very special visit to my former Connecticut home.
Over the weekend, I traveled about 30-minutes to nearby Westport and to Turkey Hill, the place I called home for more than 30-years. I was invited there to lead a tour and to speak at a fundraising event for Positive Directions, a community-based, not-for-profit organization offering alcohol and substance misuse prevention and counseling services. Casey Berg, the current owner of Turkey Hill, is a member of the Positive Directions Board. Of course, I was thrilled with the opportunity and excited to see how my old home had changed. As many of you know, Turkey Hill was a dream place for my family and me. I learned so much from all the work we completed there - all by ourselves, without the use of outside contractors. We restored the home, built new structures, developed the landscape and designed the gardens and borders. Turkey Hill was my original farmhouse and my first 'laboratory', where my ‘empire’ began. It's been featured in my magazines and on my television shows. I would not be who I am today without the vast knowledge I gained at Turkey Hill.
If you missed the special Facebook LIVE broadcast I hosted there, please go to our Facebook page and watch it - just click on this highlighted link - I know you will enjoy it. The Berg family made what I started even better - the home and the gardens look amazing. I am so happy this special place is in their care. Here are some images from my wonderful visit. And please tell me what you think about Turkey Hill's evolution in the comments below - I'm excited to hear from all of you.
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- Here I am with Casey Berg, who moved to Turkey Hill with her family 10-years ago.
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- I love how much this antique farmer’s home has evolved over the years. When I first heard about this house, I learned it had once been an onion farm. It was on two acres, and had a few large trees. There was no garage or barn, just an old picket fence and an unkempt yard. My husband and I did a ton of work to create what became my “laboratory”.
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- As part of the tour, I hosted a special Facebook LIVE to show the evolution of Turkey Hill. Here we are at the front entrance.
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- Inside the foyer, we saw several photos of Turkey Hill. This picture is of my garden shed down by the barn.
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- I laid the wide path of antique brick that leads to the cherry tree – one of a dozen we received from Japan. And I planted a broad allee of boxwood on both sides. The boxwood shrubs still look great.
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- This purple beech tree was definitely not this large when I planted it. It was a gift to my husband, Andy, for his 40th birthday. It looks so majestic now.
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- And, I built the roof for the well. We did so many things without the use of any contractors. This home was where I experimented and learned. My husband and I did lots of excavating and sculpting of the land – we also constructed a barn, a chicken coop, and a garden shed.
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- This indoor porch is also the same – with all the wonderful glass doors. I painted Turkey Hill the color of drabware – the Bergs chose a similar and very pretty color as well – it matches the landscape so nicely.
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- Here is a view of the home from the far end of the pool. The new pool at my Bedford, New York farm, was inspired by this pool.
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- Here is the pool from the other end – so serene.
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- This hornbeam hedge allee is new to me – I love it. It is a nice addition to the garden.
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- At the end is a simple sitting area under the shade of a beautiful apple tree.
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- And this is the flower garden. In the center is an armillary sphere – a model of objects in the sky consisting of a spherical framework of rings that represent various features of astronomy.
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- The garden still has a many pretty flowers and colors – the poppies, and alliums, and irises. When I designed the gardens, I considered structure, texture, and varied plant material. It is so full and gorgeous.
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- Here is another stunning floral border.
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- Much of the pool area has not changed – I love all the layering of the foliage – everything has just grown so much over the years.
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- The iron arches were originally made by my brother. The Bergs kept them and just painted them a different color. I love all the pathways and all the grass – everything is so lovingly maintained.
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- Here is another beautiful arbor leading into another garden.
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- Here is the orchard, located beyond the garden and pool on the way to the barn.
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- This is my first gardening book, “Martha Stewart’s Gardening: Month by Month”, published in 1991. The Bergs keep it on a table in their den.
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- The Bergs connected the carriage house to the main house. This den is part of that new addition.
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- Here is the old fireplace in my kitchen – one of seven in the home. I spent so much time stripping this of all the old paint – it was so great to see again. On the left side is a dutch oven, which still works.
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- This wall of cabinets was part of Turkey Hill when I lived here – my goal was to have enough space for all my entertaining dishes and silverware.
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- This is a view looking at the back of the house with the expansive porch.
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- Here I am joined by Casey, and the Bergs’ architect, John Fifield, of Fifield Piaker Elman Architects, PC. John did such a fine job melding the old with the new – and borrowing the exterior details and proportions to form the existing house so it feels like it was always there.
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- Here I am with landscape architect, Chris Kusske, of Kolkowitz and Kusske. He did a fabulous job with the gardens. Chris said his goal was to make Turkey Hill more usable for the Bergs while respecting the existing garden beds.
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- Here is Levi, who started working for me in 1982. He continued to work at Turkey Hill after I moved to Bedford, and has kept all these gardens looking so amazing over the years.
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- As we continued the tour – many visitors arrived. Look closely and you can spot my longtime publicist and dear friend, Susan Magrino.
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- And, I am sure you all recognize Laura. She started working for me here at Turkey Hill – she loves this property so much. She came for this special tour. On the ledge is my four-month old puppy, Empress Chin – she is growing into a gorgeous Chow Chow.
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- Here is Levi working in the flower garden.
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- I showed guests this special tree – can you see why it is so special?
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- If you look closely, these branches connect from the trunk to a heavier, older limb, and actually keep it from breaking. I have never seen a tree like this.
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- This is Jose – he helps Levi with all the gardening. Does he look familiar? His brother is Wilmer, who works at my farm.
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- After touring the gardens, we walked passed the hedges toward the shed and barn.
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- Here is my old garden shed – it is where I said something very special – do you know what phrase I coined in this structure?
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- This is Lynn Abramson, chairman of the Board of Positive Directions, a community-based, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit located in Westport, Connecticut. It is the primary provider of alcohol and substance misuse prevention and individual counseling services. She welcomed everyone for attending and spoke a bit about the organization.
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- About 100-people arrived to hear my garden talk.
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- It was such a beautiful day – perfect for an outdoor event. It was so nice to see such an enthusiastic and interested crowd.
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- I spoke about the history of the gardens -what I had done when I lived here, and how it has evolved. I also shared some of my gardening tips with the audience.
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- This is the chicken coop – there are no chickens in here now, but it still looks the same. When I lived here, the chicken coop was home to about 80 excellent laying hens, and roosters.
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- And, here are some of my current and former colleagues who joined me at Turkey Hill for the special visit.
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- Before I left, I stopped for a quick photo with Basil Hero, executive director of Positive Directions, and members of the Positive Directions team.
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