A Rare Opportunity to Visit 4 Private Gardens, and Hollister House Garden

Hollister House Garden is delighted to present a rare opportunity to visit four extraordinary private gardens, and Hollister House Garden, on Sunday, September 7, 2025, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Proceeds from this event provide critical funding for the educational programs and community outreach at Hollister House Garden,

The five gardens include:
The Sumacs — features a stately home designed by Ehrick Rossiter and built in 1894. Rock outcroppings, specimen trees, boxwood hedges and gardens surround the house. A formal potager enclosed by a hedge of yews, a cutting garden, orchard, and perennial gardens make an elegant nod to the classic English garden. Fall is ushered in with a colorful dahlia collection. A hidden woodland trail includes an array of specimen trees, shrubs, and shade-loving perennials. Washington, CT

Platt House — completely organic gardens surrounding the 1898 Rossiter-designed Senator Orville Platt House are an explosion of Dahlia exuberance and color in September. The original Rossiter retaining wall is the foundation for the upper-level veranda garden. A Purple Fountain Weeping Beech is the focal point of the top garden and 1000+ dahlias of approximately 75 varieties are planted throughout the property. The kitchen garden, wisteria pergola and a meditation house are of particular interest.
Washington, CT

Treetops — an eight-acre property that boasts breathtaking views of Steep Rock Summit and south to Roxbury. In 2024, a complete reimagination of the landscape was undertaken by D.J. Noyes of Water Street Designs in Stonington, CT. The property has a long winding driveway through mature woodlands. The gardens around the house feature specimen trees, perennial gardens, a pool rose garden, a blue garden and a shade garden. Washington Depot, CT

The Steinman Garden — Mature trees encircle this private east-facing hillside garden. Woodland plantings feature swaths of heuchera, epimedium, tiarella, ferns, perennials and shrubs, big and small. Anchoring evergreens are found along pebbled stone paths and stairs. (These stairs do not have railings so care must betaken) Beds encircle the front and back lawns where a small pergola sports more shade perennials. A lovely garden developed over twenty years of learning. Washington, CT

Hollister House Garden — an American interpretation of classic English gardens: formal in its structure but informal and rather wild in its style of planting. Begun in 1979, the garden since that time has evolved into a unique synthesis of the formal and the natural, with paths, walls and hedges forming a magnificent backdrop to the garden’s exuberant plantings. 300 Nettleton Hollow Road, Washington, CT

Advance Reservations for all five gardens is $40, available until 4 pm on September 6. Individual gardens may be visited on the day of the tour $10 per person cash.  The event will take place rain or shine.

Click for reservations.

Meraki’s food truck will be on site at Hollister House Garden from 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Restroom facilities are available at Hollister House Garden only.

Hollister House Garden is a non-profit corporation and a Preservation Partner of the Garden Conservancy, whose mission is to identify and preserve important private gardens across America for the education and enjoyment of the public. In 2010 Hollister House achieved its prestigious listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The property has also been named a Town Landmark Site by the Town of Washington.

Hollister House Garden is open to visitors through October 11th. Wednesday and Friday hours are 1-4PM and Saturdays 10-4PM. Directions to the garden’s 300 Nettleton Hollow Road location are also available on the website. Contact: Pamela Moffett, 860-868-2200 office@hollisterhousegarden.org