It was a hard sell -- this monstrous, derelict, historical site -- but in 1993 Robert finally convinced Barbara that 10,500 sq. ft. would be enough space to showcase the furniture they design just the way she wanted to display it.
The Stover Grist Mill and Sawmill had been a Bed and Breakfast. The most polite description of its condition in 1993 was "rustic".
Renovations began with the garden, removing acres of rampant bamboo from
the property.
Two backhoes, seven workers (including the
two of us), two weeks
and a 7 count
Citation for Soil Disturbance
by the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection later...
For three years we camped out until our
designer/
space-planner/ engineer/
artist natures
drove us into construction.
We are still building.
The Greenhouse was
completed in 2010, and it is used to over-winter our tender plants.
Mill Fleurs and Garden, February 2015.
Barbara selects the plants and designs the plant collections so they could be interesting to the visitor who may not be particularly interested in hundreds of any genus. Tiff is responsible for the hardscape and keeping it all alive with a complex irrigation system.