Three Oaks
Carol and Will Browne
237 Round Hill Road
Greenwich, CT 06831
Welcome… The first time I saw this property was in 1991 when I came apple picking
with my youngest son’s nursery school class. The house was built circa 1930 for
Robert Peckham Noble, one of two brothers who made their fortune developing the
Lifesaver mint candy business. In the late 1920’s Noble acquired 26 acres of farmland
in what was then northern Greenwich. Since there were few trees of any size on the
property, it was named for the three magnificent oaks growing at the building site. The
original farmhouse was torn down and to take its place the architect Phelps Barnum
designed the rusticated brick house in the Georgian Revival manner of the late English
Arts and Crafts period that stands today. Established in the 1930’s, the gardens were
originally designed by noted landscape architect Marian Cruger Coffin. There are many
established plantings on the property which once comprised 43 acres, including several
very large copper beech trees, two apple orchards, a rock garden with a small pool, and
a walled garden which was Meta Noble’s great pride. The original property also
included a charming brick structure which houses a stable, apartments, and garages, and
a greenhouse and gardener’s cottage which today are both private residences.
After Noble’s death the property was subdivided and the main house today stands on
almost eleven acres. When we purchased the property in 1997 the architectural firm
Fairfax & Sammons renovated the interior of the house and seamlessly added a subtle
extension in keeping with Barnum’s original design. Landscape Architect Peter
Cummin, of Cummin Associates Inc., in Stonington, CT designed a new layout for the
front motor court and the series of linked rear terraces and gardens. In 1998, Peter
Cummin and Fairfax & Sammons collaborated on the design of the pool, cabanas, and
pool gardens.
The paths, walls, and terraces provide an ‘English-garden’ framework for the lush
plantings. The large Boxwood groups in the front motor court suit the architectural
period and scale of the house, and create a simple and elegant enclosure for the entry to
the house and gardens. The three rear terraces provide spaces to relax and entertain,
and also connect the pool area and the sunken Boxwood garden to the house.
Front Courtyard In the four corners—tea crab apples from Japan, ‘Malus
jupehensis’. Inside the brick walls are American boxwood, underplanted with
‘Bowles’ vinca.
The Walled Boxwood Garden was originally designed by Marian Coffin in the
1930’s. Then the beds were square and lined with boxwood hedges. Flowers
included delphiniums, irises, poppies, phlox, balloon flowers, salvia, digitalis,
nemesia, heliotrope, and clematis. Perennials bloomed in borders and the center
beds contained the rose garden. The garden was redesigned in the 1980’s with the
existing boxwood arrangement. Fairy roses were planted in the middle beds, with
perennials, annuals and shrubs in the side beds. All plantings, except the boxwoods,
pyracantha, euonymous, and the hydrangeas and schizophragma hydrangoides
climbing over the brick walls were removed in 2003 and transplanted to other areas
on the property. The beds were planted with grass, and stone plinths were added.
Citrus trees in terra cotta pots are in the garden from May through October.
The Pool Area which includes white borders on the outsides of the fence facing the
house and tennis court, and interior beds planted mainly with blues, pinks, purples,
and lilacs. Two Yellowwood trees provide shade for the terrace in front of the
cabanas. The New Dawn climbing roses on the inside of the pool fence provide
consistent, soft flower color for June-October. The vines climbing up the pool
house walls are Schizophragma hydrangoides ‘Moonlight’. Wisteria is growing on
the pergola. This garden is planted for blooms in late spring to mid-summer and
late summer to autumn.
The Largest Rear Terrace has a collection of fragrant Gardenias in terra cotta pots
from mid May until early October. These non-winter hardy plants (along with the
Citrus trees in the Boxwood garden, and a collection of Agapanthus and Plumbagos)
are wintered offsite in a heated greenhouse. There are Kousa dogwoods against the
house; azaelea ‘Pleasant White’ and cherry laurel are foundation shrubs with
sarcococca between the back doors.
The Rock Garden is original to the house, and is hidden in the large, evergreen trees
and shrubs between the two larger rear terraces. At the present time, this garden is
not used or maintained. Of particular interest are 3 weeping Japanese Maples, an
especially large Sargent’s Weeping Hemlock, and a Camperdown Elm.
Lower Terraces Three Amelanchier (Shadbush trees) form a triangle. Directly to
the left of the steps is a large Japanese Zelkova tree, on the far right corner a
hawthorne ‘Winter King’ is underplanted with berberis ‘William Penn’. Across
the terrace is an Enkianthus campanulatus. Directly opposite the house left to right-
--clethra alnifolia ‘Hummingbird’, hydrangea paniculata ‘Tardiva’, spirea
Thunbergi ‘Orgon’, and fothergilla major, ‘Mt. Airy’. Along the walk, past the
breakfast garden on the left is a kousa dogwood, and just beyond the end of the path
is a sugar maple with winterberry behind.
Garage Courtyard On the front right corner of the garage wall---Hawthorn ‘Winter
King’, underplanted with inkberry. On the front left corner is an amelanchier also
underplanted with inkberry.
Turn left out of garage courtyard---along path in front of house: Another
amelanchier, fothergilla major, azaleas, astilbe and lots of agapanthus. To the right
are three Japanese red maples.
Landscape architects and designers associated with Three Oaks
Marian Cruger Coffin (1876-1957) pioneer woman landscape architect. Two of her
commissions in Greenwich are open to the public. The Tod estate in Old Greenwich,
originally Sound Beach, is today Tod’s point, a public park. Also the Montgomery
Pinetum and Garden Education Center, a public park and preserve, is the former 91 acre
estate of Colonel Robert Montgomery which he donated to the town in 1953.
Peter Cummin, landscape architect, 1998 to present
Dan Taylor, landscape contractor and nurseryman, Rosedale Nurseries, 1998 to present
Robert Homma Plant and design consultant, 2001-2006
Three Oaks is in the Archive of American Gardens at the Smithsonian.