A garden for the ages

The roomy front porch is the transition area between the garden and house. Natural light beams into the living room from the bank of full-length windows. // Photo by Jon Jensen

Laura Takashima has good karma. Drawn to a beautiful three-acre garden and property on the flanks of Mount Sylvania that she discovered walking through the neighborhood in 1995, she envisioned that someday she and her husband, Gregg, would live there. Her interest in the property never waned. It was five years before she learned that the owners of the house and garden had passed away and another three years before a for-sale sign appeared. They met the realtor to see the house and property for the first time at 9:30 p.m. the day the sign went up, made an offer before midnight and left town the next day for a vacation. For them, it was an inspired decision.

Even after unearthing the history of the garden and its maker, Laura and Gregg were undaunted by the prospect of managing such a venerable garden. Garden creator Molly Grothaus and her husband, Louis, purchased the property in 1950. Their house, sited in the center of the property, was built from a Sears-Roebuck home kit. After moving into the house in 1952, Molly embarked on a 40-year journey as a garden maker and plant collector.