Lyndhurst Rose Garden

Ambling on river-wise from the greenhouse, there's the Rose Garden. Complete with gazebo, and even a lady to strike a pensive pose.

Sample of the output--a lovely, perfect pink summer rose. I thought the nicest angle of the gazebo was straight up.

A tuft of wildflowers to balance out the domesticity of roses. Or something like that.

What I called a Personali-Tree.

Down the hill is the bowling alley building, apparently under reconstruction. In the background is the Hudson River.

Skulking back toward the house...you can just see the port-cochere through the trees.

These comprise most of the front lawn end of Lyndhurst photos I took. Not far from this spot but a bit over towards the grove, I ran into an unexpected guest. Or actually, I presume, a resident...I was the unexpected guest. Mr. Beaver skittered through the brush and pretended I couldn't see him in a little grove. He made it part-way into a den hole and watched me as I watched him, both of us trying to decide what to do next. He wasn't in a good spot for a photo, and I don't think he wanted to come out and pose. So I bid him good afternoon and went on my way. I was marveling simply because I'd never seen a beaver out in the world before. I guess they have to live somewhere. Why not a cushy estate?

Coolest "Club House"

Walking away from the main house, there's plenty of landscaping. I stumbled on a feature I'm sure every Collins and every Tarrytown youth would know about. But you never hear about...there's a grove of trees all huddled together for warmth or something. Sad, droopy branches, mysteriously whispering to each other...just aching to be included in a fan's story or an episode.

I'm not up on my tree species, so I'm not sure if these are weepy pines or spruce or lindens or something quite different. Some sort of evergreen, anyway. Is Lyndy looking at lindens at Lyndhurst? LOL...Anyway...

If you continue to the grove and enter it, you find any kid's dream hide-out, the coolest of club houses. The trees form great tangles and enclose the space with their foliage, so it is private with all sorts of places to sit or lean or climb. All you need is some fairy lights and a cooler and you've got a great spot for a party. Especially a Halloween party, if at night!

Let's play! Tarzan or Robin Hood, anyone?

Alternatively, it is obviously a primo spot for a tryst. Quiet, romantic, secluded, a fascinating draw in itself. In fact, over the decades, you can see evidence that I'm hardly the first one to notice this appeal.

Looking closely at the above photo, I noticed many scratches etched into these trunklines over the course of time. Hearts, names, other lovers' and kids' carved grafitti. I found Barnabas' make-out spot, heheheh.