If your like me, then you are always looking for someplace beautiful to visit. Scenes from movies, magazine articles, and travel books, all provide inspiration. There is a misconception though, that all the lovely places on earth, are far off destinations, requiring exorbitant travel budgets. Thanks to The Garden Conservancy, finding a garden to visit, is as easy as becoming a member, for with membership comes the Open Days Directory. 
The directory is a list of private gardens, that are part of the Open Days Program, who open their gates to visitors, for just a day or two during the year. It’s arranged by state and date of opening, so it’s very easy to plan a trip to a local gem that you might not otherwise get to see!
Thanks to The Directory, I found a garden worthy of many visits right here in Connecticut , Hollister House. From the website we learn the following:
Hollister House is owned by George Schoellkopf and Hollister House Garden Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the house and garden. In 2005, George Schoellkopf entered into an irrevocable agreement with the Garden Conservancy and Hollister House Garden Inc. to donate the entire property, including house, garden and twenty-five acres, either during his lifetime or through his will, to Hollister House Garden Inc.
Hollister House Garden is an American interpretation of such classic English gardens as Sissinghurst , Great Dixter and Hidcote, formal in its structure but informal and rather wild in its style of planting.
That’s right, this beautiful garden has been given to us, the garden visitor, to enjoy for many, many years. It is a wonderfully stimulating garden, and an amazing gift. And, since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll let the garden speak for itself.
Click here to begin a slideshow of Hollister House!
Once your done visiting Hollister house, please visit my fellow bloggers this month to see what they have in store for you!
Fern Richardson : Life on the Balcony : Orange County CA
Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA
Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ
Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT
Rochelle Greayer : Studio G : Boston, MA
Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA
Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK
Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA
David Cristiani : The Desert Edge : Albuquerque NM
bhld.wordpress.com 
Scott: thanks for that tour; very inspiring. Lots of idea to think about there. Love the centuries old feel of many of your images.
Your welcome Douglas! I agree, they’ve done a wonderful job with this garden.
The Open Days Directory is a treasure. I’m reminded of gardens not too far away, and gardens to put on my itinerary when we travel. We took a great tour in Houston last year.
It sure is a great resource. Thanks for the comments!
I featured a Garden Conservancy garden on my post, too! What a great organization. Maybe one day I’ll make it to Connecticut to visit the Hollister House.
A great organization with a great concept. And one day I’ll make it to California also, then we’ll have the left and right coasts covered! 🙂
For my next garden visit / mini-vacation (they all have to be “mini”, no choice), I see a mid-Atlantic region visit, to keep up at least 1x year out of my desert comfort zone.
Back to Hollister House – beyond the stone steps and walls (my favorite element almost anywhere), the views out into the meadows and hillsides really do it for me. I like that there, and even though the more cottage-type planting design is not my bag, I guess the spaces, details and views more than compensate!
This garden seems a natural fit for there…not so when some try that same motif here. Thanks for the slideshow!
I love the Stone work also, but your right those views are beautiful. Hollister House owns most of what you can see, and there are plans in the works to add the hillside to the garden in a very naturalistic way. I look forward to walking them. Thanks for stopping by!
Viewing gardens always makes me think about the passion they bring to my soul… the photos of this garden brought brought a bit of quiet to the end of my hectic day. Thank you…
Sheila, I’m glad you found a bit of respite here, be well!
What a beautiful home and garden, Scott! Oh, how I wish I could go back to your lovely state. There’s nothing quite like Connecticut. Can you imagine looking out of those windows every day? Just stunning….
Rebecca, your enthusiasm for Connecticut is wonderful, and has caused me to look again at some of its character that I might have taken for granted. Thanks for sharing your passion!
Great photos, Scott. You really captured the feel of the gardens. How’s that cutting of the cotoneaster George has growing around those steps doing in your garden?
Thanks Debbie! Happy to report that the Cotoneaster cutting is doing very well, can’t wait for it to attain its parents dramatic presence.