Dear Friends of Untermyer Gardens,
As we commence our fourteenth year of restoring Samuel Untermyer’s garden, it is amazing to look back at how basic things were in the old days. When Timothy Tilghman became our first and only paid employee in June 2011, our operating budget was about $75,000.
Timothy brought his own tools from home, since we had none. I loaned my own chain saw, which lasted only a year as there were so many fallen trees and branches to remove. In fact, I used it myself several times to help clear paths! The carriage trail hadn’t been passable in a generation; this is what it looked like:
As we commence our fourteenth year of restoring Samuel Untermyer’s garden, it is amazing to look back at how basic things were in the old days. When Timothy Tilghman became our first and only paid employee in June 2011, our operating budget was about $75,000.
Timothy brought his own tools from home, since we had none. I loaned my own chain saw, which lasted only a year as there were so many fallen trees and branches to remove. In fact, I used it myself several times to help clear paths! The carriage trail hadn’t been passable in a generation; this is what it looked like:
Fast forward to 2025: a new garage has been built, and the Conservancy now owns more than a few tools. Timothy is a stickler about organizing and maintaining equipment, and I know that he revels in setting up his tools with military precision.
We were thrilled to receive the gift of a new bronze Apollo Belvedere from our Board member Barbara Israel to replace the one that Samuel Untermyer installed in the 1920s but was since lost. It has been placed in the north loggia on the lower terrace of the Walled Garden, beckoning visitors to approach the biggest surprise of Welles Bosworth’s design, the grand reveal of the Vista.
Over the years, I have given a lecture during the winter, exploring different aspects of Untermyer Gardens, its precedents, and its history. Just as I thought there could be nothing more to say, I recalled that one of the world’s greatest Indo-Persian gardens is not in Iran, India, or Pakistan, but in Spain! The Alhambra is celebrated as one of the most beautiful gardens in Europe and actually predates the finest gardens of the Mughal Empire. It will be the subject of my Winter Lecture, “Alhambra: A Moorish Paradise.” It will take place at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 5, at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church at East 73rd Street in Manhattan. Please venture out in the cold weather to explore this great garden with me and enjoy a friendly reception afterward.
We had much to be grateful for as the year drew to a close, not the least of which was the splendid holiday tree that graced the center of the Walled Garden during our Grand Holiday Illumination, now concluded. It was given to us by lifelong Yonkers residents Tony and Adelia Landi. Tony is the esteemed former Parks Commissioner and Deputy Mayor of Yonkers. The Landis planted it as a sapling in their rock garden decades ago, but it grew and grew, eventually overwhelming the footprint of their property and prompting them to donate it for our Illumination. Many thanks to Adelia and Tony for sharing this statuesque beauty with all of us! Thanks, too, to our sponsors, whose support allows us to offer the best holiday light show around, free of charge to everyone: Yonkers Industrial Development Agency, ArtsWestchester, Domino Sugar, AVR Realty, Fred M. Schildwachter & Sons, and St. John’s Riverside Hospital. We are also grateful to the many community groups who cheerfully volunteered their time—in good weather and bad—as greeters and hot chocolate servers. They play an important part in the Illumination’s magic.
Finally, thank you to everyone who supported our Annual Appeal. Your generosity has made for a very happy start to the new year.
In the following video, Timothy speaks about life before Untermyer Gardens and how his past experiences have informed his direction of this garden's restoration and stewardship. It will be the first in a series of occasional videos about our gardeners, "Who Makes Our Garden Grow?"
In the following video, Timothy speaks about life before Untermyer Gardens and how his past experiences have informed his direction of this garden's restoration and stewardship. It will be the first in a series of occasional videos about our gardeners, "Who Makes Our Garden Grow?"
Warm regards,
Stephen F. Byrns
President
Stephen F. Byrns
President
RSS Feed