Clayton,"
now known as the Nassau County Museum of Art, was given to Childs
Frick and his bride, Frances, as a wedding present from his father,
Henry Clay Frick, in 1919. The Georgian mansion, surrounded by
two hundred acres, was designed by Ogden Codman, Jr. in 1900.
Mrs. Frick, who lived at "Clayton," was an avid horticulturist
and active garden club member. She hired Marian Coffin in 1925
to re-design the formal garden. At the peak of her career at that
time, Coffin considered her design at Clayton to be one of her
finest.
Coffin's overall plan for the garden was to clarify, strengthen,
and enhance the existing arrangement of walks, flower beds, hedges,
and entrances to complement and enhance the design of the mansion.
Before the end of her career, Coffin had undoubtedly foreseen
the eventual deterioration of her ephemeral creation. Although
the extensive flower borders she designed for Clayton are now
gone, the shrubs and walkways remain, so that the basic structure
of Coffin's plan can still be appreciated, along with the magnificent
Milliken-Bevin trellis, restored by the Roslyn Landmark Society
in 1989. Other private contributions have enabled the Museum to
partially restore and maintain the rose garden and the azalea
garden.
A generous grant from New York State's Environmental Quality
Bond Act, awarded to the Museum in 1993, has allowed the Museum
to plan the restoration of this magnificent garden. This renovation
plan carefully sustains the integrity and essence of Marian Coffin's
creation while making the garden widely accessible to the public.
Clayton,"
now known as the Nassau County Museum of Art, was given to Childs
Frick and his bride, Frances, as a wedding present from his father,
Henry Clay Frick, in 1919. The Georgian mansion, surrounded by
two hundred acres, was designed by Ogden Codman, Jr. in 1900.
