Recognized as one of the “world’s ten best gardens,” (1), Innisfree is a powerful work of art and an iconic postwar design. Over sixty years in the making, it is the masterpiece of landscape architect Lester Collins, with early contributions by his clients, artist and teacher Walter Beck, and gardener and heiress Marion Burt Beck. At its core, Innisfree is about the individual’s experience in nature. Inviting exploration and even contemplation, Collins’ sweeping landscape merges the essence of Modernist and Romantic ideas with traditional Chinese and Japanese garden design principles in a form that evolved through subtle handling of the site and slow manipulation of its ecology. The result is a distinctly American stroll garden — a sublime composition of rock, water, wood, and sky achieved with remarkable economy and grace.
