The Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum is an

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

of , located at 101 Ferry Road,

Bristol, Rhode Island Bristol is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States, as well as the county seat. The population of Bristol was 22,493 at the 2020 census. It is a deep water seaport named after Bristol, England. Major industries include boat buil ...

, midway between Newport and

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, on Bristol Harbor with views over

Narragansett Bay Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. S ...

. It includes a mansion, with a lawn and over 300

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of woody plants in its arboretum and gardens, including both native and exotic species. The Mansion and its grounds were established in the 1890s by Augustus and Bessie Van Wickle as their summer retreat. Augustus Van Wickle was from Hazleton, Pennsylvania, with a fortune in the coal-mining business and a donor of the Van Wickle Gates at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

Mansion

The mansion was built in Queen Anne style in 1895, then rebuilt in 1906 as Blithewold II after being destroyed by fire. The slow-moving fire within the walls could not be extinguished, but much of the furnishings and other objects were able to be removed from the house. Blithewold II was designed in English Country Manor style by Walter Kilham of Kilham & Hopkins, Boston. In 1936 Marjorie Van Wickle Lyon inherited Blithewold, where she lived until her death in 1976 at the age of 93. By her bequest, ownership of Blithewold passed to the Heritage Foundation of Rhode Island (later known as the Heritage Trust of Rhode Island). Since 1978 the house has been open as a public museum, restored to its appearance circa 1910, with an extensive collection of the Van Wickle's personal possessions, including furniture, decorative arts, letters and other writings, Marjorie's original watercolors, and an extensive collection and display of women's dresses and other costumes of the period.

Grounds

Today's grounds are primarily the design of John DeWolf, and date between 1896 and 1913. The property was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1980. Blithewold's grounds include species from North America, Europe, China and Japan. Specimen trees include

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

(''Magnolia'' spp.), linden (''Tilia'' spp.),

Ginkgo ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants, assigned to the gymnosperms. The scientific name is also used as the English common name. The order to which the genus belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, , and ''Ginkgo'' is n ...

(''Ginkgo biloba''), Black Tupelo (''Nyssa sylvatica''), Dawn Redwood (''Metasequoia glyptostroboides''), Franklinia (''Franklinia alatamaha''), Eastern Hemlock (''Tsuga canadensis''), various oaks (''Quercus'' spp.) and

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

es (''Fagus'' spp.). Other notable trees include a weeping Pagoda Tree (''Styphnolobium japonicum'' 'Pendula'), Hiba (''Thujopsis dolabrata''), Katsura (''Cercidiphyllum japonicum''), and

Sugi ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L.f.). It is considered to be endemic to Japan ...

(''Cryptomeria japonica''). The grounds also include English Yews (''Taxus baccata'') and Eastern Junipers (''Juniperus virginiana''), as well as what is claimed to be the largest Giant Sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') on the East Coast, and currently about tall. The Sequoia was planted ca. 1930. Blithewold is home to at least two Rhode Island Champion Trees, including a Sargent’s Weeping Hemlock (''Tsuga canadensis ‘Sargentii’'', planted ca. 1920) and a Silver Fir (''Abies alba'', planted ca. 1911). Blithewold's Bamboo Grove covers an area nearly the size of a tennis court, and is planted with ''

Phyllostachys ''Phyllostachys'' ( is a genus of Asian bamboo in the grass family. Many of the species are found in central and southern China, with a few species in northern Indochina and in the Himalayas. Some of the species have become naturalized in part ...

aureosulcata'', the Yellow-groove

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

, which grows to tall. Blithewold has maintained contacts with the

Arnold Arboretum The Arnold Arboretum is a botanical research institution and free public park affiliated with Harvard University and located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale, Massachusetts, Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston. Established in 1872, it is the ...

ever since 1926, when staff botanists visited Blithewold to see the Chinese toon tree ('' Toona sinensis'') in flower for what was believed to be the first time in the United States.

References

External links

Blithewold Mansion official site
{{Authority control 1895 establishments in Rhode Island Arboreta in Rhode Island Botanical gardens in Rhode Island Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Historic house museums in Rhode Island Museums in Bristol County, Rhode Island Protected areas of Bristol County, Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Bristol, Rhode Island Houses in Bristol County, Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Bristol County, Rhode Island

Mansion

Grounds

See also

References

External links