Houghton Garden Press Release: Alderman Lisle Baker, Newton, Massachusetts

[Close this window to go back to Community Interest page]

For immediate release October 3, 2003

Reopening of Historic Houghton Garden

(center), State Representative Ruth Balser and Newton Alderman Lisle Baker cut the ribbon to celebrate the recent reopening of historic Houghton Garden within the Webster Conservation Area on Suffolk Road in Newton. (Standing far left to right) Nancy Avery, member of the Chestnut Hill Garden Club, Martha Ahern Horn, Senior Environmental Planner for the City of Newton, and Helen Heyn, Associate Member of the Newton Conservation Commission, look on. Also present were Newton Aldermen Brian Yates and Amy Sangiolo, Newton Conservation Commission Associate Member Ken Kimmell, and former Alderman Verne Vance.

Alderman Lisle Baker helped lead efforts within the Board of Aldermen to support rehabilitating the Houghton Garden. He also worked with Rep. Balser and other state officials, as well as Newton Mayor David Cohen, the Newton Conservation Commission and its staff, and concerned citizens, including members of the Chestnut Hill Garden Club, to enable the Garden to be rehabilitated. "The Houghton Garden is an important historic and natural resource which has now been restored and made wheelchair accessible for all Newton citizens to enjoy," said Alderman Baker.

Houghton Garden is a ten acre woodland garden, originally constructed by Mr. and Mrs. Clement S. Houghton, who built their home nearby in 1906. The Garden is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is located on the edge of both a local and National Register Historic District. It is a "wild garden" in the English style, including winding paths, a lagoon like pond, and Mrs. Houghton's 1919 alpine rock garden. The Garden, and the Webster Conservation Area of which it is a part, is under the jurisdiction of the Newton Conservation Commission.

The City of Newton undertook the rehabilitation of the Garden using funds from the Department of Environmental Management and the Massachusetts Historical Commission. These funds were in turn matched by the City of Newton, including funds from a Community Development Block Grant, and donations by the Chestnut Hill Garden Club.

The rehabilitation work not only involved clearing and dredging to restore some of the original landscape design, which had been overgrown, but also restoration of steppingstone pathways and stairs, replacement of the foundation of the dam and a stone bridge, and planting several new birch trees. It also involved new fencing, as well as the creation of a wheelchair accessible entrance and two pathways leading to viewing areas from which the rock garden and water feature may be seen. The Mayor's Committee for People with Disabilities also reviewed the project and concurred that it will provide an experience in the City unlike the other areas available to the disabled.

"The rehabilitation of the Houghton Garden is a powerful example of how citizens and government can work together to preserve and enhance our community," said Alderman Baker.

To assure ongoing care of the Garden, a new nonprofit organization, "The Friends of Houghton Garden," has been formed. The organization is committed to the restoration and historic preservation of the Houghton Garden's natural resources for the enjoyment of generations to come. Interested citizens can contribute time or donations by writing to The Friends of Houghton Garden at P.O. Box 67155, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467. The Chestnut Hill Garden Club has also pledged its continued support to help with maintenance, plantings and other activity, as has the Newton Conservation Commission.

For further information, please contact Alderman Lisle Baker at 617-566-3848, or AldermanBaker@comcast.net, or Martha Horn, Senior Environmental Planner for the City of Newton, at 617-796-1134, or mhorn@ci.newton.ma.us.