Sonnenberg
is a preeminent example of Victorian era garden design.
Tree filled lawns surround the elaborate Italian parterre
garden, rose garden, Japanese garden and old-fashioned
garden.
First began in the 1860s, the gardens reached a horticultural
climax under Mrs. Mary Clark Thompson in the 1910s and
1920s.
Unable to maintain the gardens after her death, the
family sold the property in the 1930s. In the 1970s
a group of local citizens acquired the property and
established a large volunteer base to maintain the extensive
gardens and structures, which include one of the largest
Lord and Burnham conservatories ever built for a private
owner.
