A gardener’s delight – to share a love of gardening, flowers, plants and nature with others, to create beauty in a yard, in a home, in a place, to inspire others to see and appreciate what surrounds them.
Lakeview Garden Club in Greece, along with Shorewood Garden Club, Woodside Garden Club and several members of the 7th District Federated Garden Clubs of New York had the opportunity to share their love of gardening as part of the 35th Candlelight Holiday Tour.
This years’s Candlelight Holiday Tour was entitled Maplewood Gems & Beyond – A Step Back in History. The tour’s primary focus was on the Maplewood Area of Rochester, featuring three B&Bs and two privately owned residences. The tour also included The Ellwanger Estate Bed & Breakfast, 625 Mount Hope Avenue, Rochester. The tour was sponsored by Section III, 7th District Federation Garden Clubs of New York State, Inc., held on Saturday, November 11 from 11-4, and featured seasonal decorations created by select Section III garden clubs. Katie Amato, one of Lakeview Garden Club’s coordinators said, “When we decorate a home for the Candlelight Tour there is an expectation that we use some aspect of natural plant material in each holiday design.”
The beautiful home located at 501 Seneca Parkway is a 1929 Tudor Revival designed by architect George Lorenz, and restored by the homeowners Eileen McCabe and Tim Walsh. Their restoration includes beautiful wallpapers, crystal chandeliers that were saved from Southern mansions, multiple fireplaces retrieved from mansions in the Rochester area, and many antiques that they purchases over the years. Their home created a lovely atmosphere to accommodate the holiday decorations that Lakeview Garden Club of Greece displayed throughout the home and yard.
A copper tub under the tree in the front yard was filled with evergreens, red twig dogwood branches, birch logs, sprayed alliums, giant pinecones, dried coneflowers and hydrangeas. The wooden boxes by the front steps and front window were similarly filled to catch your eye. The stone arched entry porch with a swag on the front door and a lighted grapevine Christmas tree with assorted hydrangeas and burgundy ribbon created an expectation as to what lies beyond the front door.
The holiday displays throughout the house contained mixed fresh greens, osage oranges, sprayed dried fungus, seed pods, rosemary trees and grapevine trees. The downstairs mantle and bookcases were decorated with grapevine, curly willow and dried hydrangeas with fairy lights and wrapped burgundy ribbon.
There was a beautiful antique bird cage in the dining room that had a winter scene displayed inside, complete with a sledding hill and pond. The trees around the pond were dried barberry branches, birch branches, curly willow twigs and dried Marshall’s Memory Oregano. The miniature evergreen tree was made from a bottle brush and preserved in Lycopodium Moss. The bird cage was the first purchase the homeowners made when they moved into their home fourteen years ago, and it was a clever way to share this piece on the tour.
The kitchen designs included a kale, garlic and miniature chrysanthemum arrangement and also a cork wreath with grapes and greens surrounding a pillar. Corks were also made into Christmas trees and displayed on the bar with ribbons and berries. The staircase had evergreen swags, hydrangeas and gold ribbons leading you up to the second floor.
Located at the top of the stairs, on the second floor was an inviting outdoor porch with a mannequin dressed for cold weather, a natural pineapple center piece on a table, and a bottle of wine and wine glass, just in case you wanted to relax a minute and enjoy the view of the backyard.
The mantle in the master bedroom was gorgeous with evergreens, euonymus branches, burgundy ribbon and candles and a beautiful gold angel surrounded by mirrors. It was interesting to see the club use the homeowners belongings in creative ways, and also share their own decorations to inspire the people touring the home.
If you have an interest in gardening and would like to find out more about the clubs in the area, please contact Christine Mott the 7th Federated District Garden Clubs Membership Chair at 585-598-3002 or mottbrit@rochester.rr.com.
All Photos by Karen Fien
Following are pictures of 501 Seneca Parkway decorated by Lakeview Garden Club in Greece.
Additional Homes on the Tour:
The Rose Garden Bed & Breakfast, 4 Fairview Heights, owners Cindy and Lou Rossi. Cindy is a member of Lakeview Garden Club and also the person in charge of putting the Candlelight Holiday Tour together. She decorated her home, along with her husband Lou. The 1907 Victorian Queen Anne-style home was restored by Cindy and Lou Rossi and now operates as a charming B&B. The Victorian era details throughout the home, including a Quoizel stained glass chandelier, arches entrances and numerous stained glass windows, enhanced the holiday arrangements and brought just the right holiday cheer to the tour.
Following are pictures of 4 Fairview Heights decorated by owners Cindy and Lou Rossi.
Nicholas and Alice Zumbulyadis are homeowners of 2 Seneca Parkway. A beautiful Tudor Revival built in 1910 for William Robinson, co-founder of the Barnard and Simonds Furniture Company that was located near the lower falls. This home has been restored by the owners and features a Neo-Classical fireplace surround, coffered ceilings and wainscoting. This lovely home showcased the holiday decorations by Woodside Garden Club which complimented the rich mahogany woodwork and the antique furniture throughout the home.
Following are pictures of 2 Seneca Parkway decorated by Woodside Garden Club.
The Ellwanger Estate Bed & Breakfast, 625 Mt. Hope Avenue, built in 1839 by James Hawks, was the home of horticultural pioneer George Ellwanger. George’s granddaughter Helen, the founder of the Landmark Society of Rochester, owned the home until 1982 when she bequeathed the property to the Landmark Society. In 2006 the property was purchased by Rosemary Janofsky, owner and innkeeper, and the house and carriage barn were extensively renovated. The historical showpiece was decorated by Joyce Lyle and Friends. The holiday decorations accentuated the classical beauty of the estate and created an elegant look throughout the home which features beautiful oak paneling in the Grand Hall, carved pillars in the Great Room and Grand Hall and a 1878 Hooks & Hastings pipe organ. The estate also features five fireplaces and a glass enclosed conservatory.
Following are pictures of 625 Mt. Hope Avenue, The Ellwanger Estate Bed and Breakfast decorated by Joyce Lyle and Friends.
