The Elms
Restoration Plan for the Sunken Garden

Newport, Rhode Island
1999-2000

A registered Historic Landmark, the Elms estate is an outstanding example of American Beaux Arts design. The Sunken Garden is arrayed below the mansion’s rear terrace and approached by steps framed by twin limestone pavilions. Historic photographs, such as the postcard shown below left, document the Garden’s significance as the culmination of the estate’s formal grounds. By the late twentieth century, however, its fanciful parterres, bordering hedges and sculpted yews had either disappeared or overgrown their space, as seen below right. DDA inventoried existing conditions and researched the design and development of the Garden attributed to architect Horace Trumbauer, landscape designer, Jacques Greber and gardener Bruce Butterton. Responding to its style, history and current museum status, DDA’s Restoration Plan for the Garden documents its research and specifies criteria and methods for its treatment. The bottom photograph shows the restored garden as it exists today.