Historic

For seven years I was involved with the stabilization and rehabilitation of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s home and gardens as well as oversight and contribution to the Cultural Landscape Report prepared by Pressley Associates for the site. The strength and beauty of the site lie in its humble presentation and the reality that Edna, her husband, and John Pinney did much of the work themselves. Using historical information and images, as well as Millay’s own notes, and working with a limited budget and a group of volunteers, we strove to understand and reclaim the spirit of Edna’s home and grounds in preparation for them to be opened to the public. Walking trails, open meadows, and garden rooms were carefully observed over time; original plantings were unearthed, untangled, and teased forth as invasives and debris were cleared away. With the knowledgeable assistance of Claudia and Conrad from the Farmscape Ecology Program many rare and native species were discovered in the meadows, revealing a precious and unique ecosystem.