Many kids read the story of “The Secret Garden”. Mary, an
orphan, moves from India to England to live with her distant relatives. She is
unhappy, but soon she befriends her crippled cousin and a local farmboy and
together they discover the aforementioned secret garden, a wild place full of
flowers, broken swings, and imagination. I remember loving the book and
subsequently loving the idea of a formal, flowery garden just around the
corner.
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| Part of the formal gardens (plus cameo on the left!) |
This might be a heavy-handed segue, forgive me, but I
thought of “The Secret Garden” when visiting the Center for History last month.
We’ve written about Copshaholm and the West Washington Historic District as a
whole previously on this blog, but I have to confess that I, personally, had
never spent much time on the Center’s campus. And lo and behold, I found my own
secret (or rather unknown) garden. I had been scouting locations for my upcoming South Bend wedding
and someone suggested the Oliver Gardens adjacent to the Center for History and
attached to Copshaholm. When I visited, it was one of the hottest days in June
(we’ve had many more since), and I was immediately charmed by the lush loveliness
of the gardens. A green lawn spreads until it reaches a gazebo followed by a
stretch of roses in a formal, sunken flowerbed and then the open lawn in front
of the mansion. The gardens are in the process of being restored to the
original landscaping from 1915 when they were used by the Oliver family for
entertaining and relaxing. I can see how enjoyable they must have been as a
wealthy family’s backyard. In my opinion, they, themselves, are a reason to
make the trip out to West Washington.
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| The front lawn |
And if you do choose to visit, you’ll find yourself with the
ability to view much more than the gardens. The Center for History is currently
hosting several interesting exhibitions (one called “Gizmos, Corsets, and
Concoctions caught my eye) alongside their more permanent ones such as “Girls
Who Played Hard Ball” focused on the women’s baseball league that inspired the
movie “A League of Their Own”. You’ll also have access to the mansion itself
(which we have featured previously). Just make sure to spend some of your
summer afternoon in the gardens.
For directions click here.
For more information about the Center for History click
here.
For ticket information click here.
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