When you dream up Spring Break plans, you probably think beach or maybe mountains. Not Nonna. For Spring Break this year, we packed our bags and headed west to the Natural State for some horticultural high times.
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| Click any of the photos for a full gallery |
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| A view to the river |
We arrived for our tour on a blustery and cold Thursday morning. The day before, it was close to 70 degrees but stormy. Such is life. Moss Mountain was about a 30 minute drive from our hotel in West Little Rock. We were two of about 90 guests that day. After a brief introduction in front of the home and a quick acquaintance-maker with Big Sister, we were split into three smaller groups. Our group started with the gardens and grounds around the big house. The first thing I was struck by was the vision that one has to have to dream up something like this. As the guide told us, the hardscape and gardens came first, and the house came last. It's all meticulously oriented to make the most of the river views-- Moss Mountain sits on a bluff overlooking the Arkansas River. While most of the gardens around the home were down to the winter bones, the design was still evident as elements of surprise, wonder, and whimsy stopped you every few steps.
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| The artist's workshop |
Next was the interior of the home, and yes really, it is his house. Moss Mountain is where he lives, and where he spends most of his time when he's in Little Rock. It's amazing to think that twice a week for a lot of the year, he opens his home for visitors to traipse through. On the tour, you see virtually all of the house, and you have free run of most of it except for Allen's bedroom. They said the bedroom was once open, too-- but somebody got a little too nosy. Guess they wanted to know if he was a boxers or briefs kind of guy...
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| Don't mind me. I'll be napping... |
My favorite parts of the house were the less formal parts. The third floor (there are four floors counting the basement which you don't see on the tour) is kind of a finished attic space that he decorated for his nieces/nephews. It has dormer windows and the highest and best views of the river. But my *absolute* favorite part of the house is the sleeping porch. The back of the house faces the river to the north, and on the second floor, Allen built an enormous porch that has beds and a bath. I had seen this on his TV show, so I knew what to expect, and it was pretty cool.
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| Focal point folly |
After touring the house, we went to the west side of the property to see the vegetable garden and the rose garden. Again, with the time of year, there wasn't much going on in either of these, but it was neat to see both reduced to their winter bones. Of the gardens, I think the rose garden might be my favorite. It's of course very well laid out. You enter from above walking down a gravel pathway, stop at a terrace, and then take one of two curving paths to reach the level of the garden. In addition to box hedge parterre surrounding the rose plantings, the garden has three brick follies. They serve as great stopping points, and their heavy arches make great frames from which you can view different areas of the garden.
After the rose garden, it was about time for lunch. The bell rings at noon, and they bring you into an event tent for a sit-down, plated lunch featuring recipes from one of Allen's cookbooks. Our lunch was a delicious Salad Niçoise and a delicious slice of buttermilk pecan pie.
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| The man himself |
At the end of lunch, we were joined by the man himself for a little chat and Q&A. Having never heard Allen speak other than as a presenter on a television program, I was both impressed/surprised by his sense of humor and his strident green/organic stance. The latter shouldn't have been a surprise given the cultivation practices he shows on his television programs. He's also equally passionate about poultry especially the negative effects of modern production methods and preservation of heritage breeds.
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| What you lookin at? |
After lunch, it was on to Poultryville where Allen keeps several dozen heritage breed chickens, ducks, and other birds. He also has a flock of sheep, one Australian shepherd dog, one horse, one donkey, and one goat.
Also after lunch, you get to see/tour the Garden Home Challenge cottage. In this web video series, Allen was challenged to design/build an eco-friendly home for $150,000 and build it in 150 days. Each of the videos in the series is a different day in the process. It's really neat to see how it came together, and seeing the finished product was really impressive. Allen is in the process of a new design/build challenge featuring structural insulated panels (SIPs), but we didn't get to see that up close.
As the tour wraps up, you get probably the best view of the home and the hill in front of it featuring the grandest plantings of daffodils. I was left with the impression that I definitely want to come back in a different season when more things are in bloom. As with any garden, you should see it in multiple seasons, right?
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| A parting shot |
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