Recognized as one of the “world’s ten best gardens,”* Innisfree is a powerful icon of 20th century landscape design. Over 50 years in the making, it is largely the work of landscape architect Lester Collins, FASLA (1914-1993), with important contributions by his client, the artist Walter Beck. Innisfree merges the essence of Modernist ideas and traditional Chinese and Japanese garden design principles with a nuanced reading of this glacial landscape. The result is a distinctly American stroll garden on 185 acres surrounding a large, shimmering lake – a sublime composition of rock, water, wood and sky.
*Rory Stuart, What are Gardens For? Experiencing, Making and Thinking About Gardens (2012)