The Front Garden
By the time the Commodore began to improve Morven in the 1850s, a picturesque, curvilinear landscape style was the mode. There was an attempt to make plantings appear “natural” and a varied terrain rather than a flat surface was preferred. The Commodore’s landscaping therefore featured a front lawn with irregularly placed trees and a small hillock in front of the house.
The flowers and scrubs that are planted here now are known from 19th century descriptions and photographs. The wisteria draped across the front portico first appears in photographs taken in the 1880s.
A Stockton cousin described the 19th century approach to the house as it has been restored, with the footpath divided from the carriage drive by a grass strip. “Round beds of day lilies planted at intervals … made the front of the house more interesting by affording one the chance to jump over them all in succession instead of walking on the path.”
Marker can be reached from Stockton Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
