Hollister House is a romantic country garden created by George Schoellkopf. Its brilliance celebrates the integration of the vernacular with a connoisseur’s approach, marrying the formal with the informal, the best of 20th century English gardens with an 18th-century New England farmstead. We are helping to plan and facilitate the property’s transition to nonprofit ownership and as a public place for gathering and learning.

For more information, visit hollisterhousegarden.org.

Timeline

2018

Hollister House announces a series of new educational lectures and workshops, "Barn Talks," as well as the creation of a new education planner position at the garden.

2017

Susan Burke Education Fund is announced at Garden Study Weekend Vll.

2016

Renovation of 18th-century post-and-beam barn completed, providing a venue for workshops and classes.

2015

Due to its growing popularity, Garden Study Weekend becomes an annual event.

2014

Fourth Hollister House Garden Study Weekend, "New Plants/New Gardens," held in early September.

2012

Third Hollister House Garden Study Weekend, "Fresh Perspectives on the Garden," held in August.

2010

The Martha Stewart Show (May 18) features a visit to Hollister House, including an interview with Schoellkopf. The second Hollister House Garden Study Weekend, "Private Eye: Personal Expression in the Garden," is held in August. Hollister House Homestead is listed on National Register of Historic Places.

2009

Dig It! Magazine describes Hollister House as having "constant, yet soothing, views of texture and shapes, of colors that mingle and flavor the air. It is arresting arrangements and paths that change immediately, yet unhurriedly, from one step to the next...It is a garden of genius."

2008

The first Hollister House Garden Study Weekend, "Transatlantic Connections: Creating a Personal Garden Style," is co-sponsored by the Conservancy.

2006

Tessa Izenour, a Marco Polo Stufano Garden Conservancy Fellow, helps open up new garden areas and creates a comprehensive database of garden plants.

2005

George Schoellkopf formally pledges the gift of the house, garden, and 27 acres to Hollister House Garden, Inc. and commits to creating an endowment fund, with a minimum of $2 million to go toward maintaining the property in perpetuity.

2004

Working with the Garden Conservancy, Schoellkopf and a group of citizens form Hollister House Garden, Inc., a nonprofit organization that will eventually assume stewardship of the property.

1978

George Schoellkopf, a collector and dealer of 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century American decorative and folk art, buys the 27-acre property. He begins to restore the house in authentic and elegant 18th-century style and to create a garden and landscape that establish a basic sense of formality yet stays true to the New England countryside.

1760

The original saltbox farmhouse is constructed and named after the builder, Samuel Hollister.