Japanese Garden at Potantico

After patiently waiting a couple of years, I finally had the opportunity to visit the Japanese garden at Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate in Sleepy Hollow, New York. 

The garden is open for public tours only a couple days each year. Getting a ticket can be difficult, once they go one sale, they disappear very quickly that day. The number of people is limited to 15 per visit, with two visits on that day, one in the spring and one in the fall. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund manages the site.

Website: https://www.rbf.org/pocantico/stewardship/japanese-garden-pocantico

Originally built between 1908-1910, the garden spans across the lower hillside below the Kykuit mansion. It contained a large oval pond surrounded by boulders that was fed by a brook. On the edge of the pond was a wooden Meiji-style teahouse, while elsewhere stroll garden pathway surrounded the site.

1909 Teahouse

Overgrown by the 1960s, Nelson Rockefeller renovated and expanded the garden. The teahouse was moved to an area adjacent to the existing garden. A new Shoin-style teahouse was built in 1962.

A series of stepping stone path wind through the garden, crossing a small brook, that leads towards a stone lined gorge and waterfall. The pond in front of the teahouse is edged with Japanese maples and yew. There is also a dry Zen garden in the style of Ryoan-Ji in Kyoto, Japan. There are cherry trees, azalea, rhododendron, daffodils and day lilies throughout. There are also several moss covered ares as well.

Reading: The Japanese Garden at Pocantico by Cynthia Bronson Altman

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