Oakwood Arboretum
The Property
Oakwood was the first privately owned residence in New England to achieve Level 1 accreditation as an Arboretum. Oakwood was built in 1854 by architect Detlief Lienau for Mrs. John Carey (Mary Alida, nee Astor), daughter of William Backhouse Astor and granddaughter of John Jacob Astor. In 1872, the Rhode Island architectural firm of George Champlin Mason & Son was commissioned to design the main living room and music room (essentially an addition to the south). In 1875, the Boston firm of Sturgis & Brigham added the tower and kitchen wing (on the northeast corner). The gardens of Oakwood were first opened to a public tour in August 1930, when the Newport Mercury noted, “One of the places not hitherto opened to the public… It is one of those long-established estates which brought Newport to its early reputation for the beauty and magnificence of its residential homes.”
The Collections
Oakwood’s owners have added several new species of trees to this 5-acre property including a pair of Stewartia trees flanking the Narragansett Avenue gate, Franklinia tree near the children’s playhouse, a Ginkgo tree at the north end of the west lawn, and Princeton Elm tree which replaced a felled beech tree on the southern half of the west lawn. 2017 was the first year for Oakwood’s restored cutting garden, which in addition to perennials and vegetables has dozens of varieties of Dahlias.
The Mission
An important resource informing this design thinking is “Newport in Flower” by Harriet Jackson Phelps, which features early 20th century colorized photographs of Newport gardens. The mission of Oakwood Arboretum is to preserve and cultivate this historic landscape. Using records and photos, the current owners have restored key features including the extensive gardens along the eastern border of the property line.
Special Features
Greenhouse and garden bed
Space east of the lily pond that was an abandoned tennis court has been developed into a dedicated vegetable garden and greenhouse space.
Turkey Oak
A Turkey Oak located in the southwest corner lawn is considered one of the tallest surviving specimens in North America.
Firethorn espalier
The Davis Family installed a firethorn espalier (Pyracantha coccinea ‘Mohave’) along the face of the Narragansett Street wall. This is an evergreen shrub that will be trained in a criss-cross “X” pattern on the wall. Installing this espalier requires work from masons to place anchors in the wall along with the landscaping team to train the shrubs.
Lily pond
There was a brief period in the late 19th century where a separate house existed at the site of the present-day lily pond. That property, which only stood for about 10 years, was called “The Clover Patch.”
London planetree
An August 1930 newspaper article about Oakwood stated, “Possibly, the first arresting feature would be the unusual arm stretch of the great tree which stands about halfway along the driveway on the right hand side, and spreads huge branches far across the driveway in canopy effect.” Today, the great London Planetree at this location lives up to the same billing it was given over 85 years ago.
