The Home Garden, nearly two acres in size, was a central part of life for the Roosevelt family, but in 1948, it was replaced by a parking lot for the National Historic Site and the Presidential Library. While this lot improved public access to both sites, it did so at the cost of an important piece of Roosevelt history.
It was not until 1975, when the park acquired the Bellefield property to the north of Springwood, that the park could begin to consider relocating visitor parking and reestablishing the original Home Garden. Once again thriving—all food grown on site gets donated to Dutchess Outreach—find out from the experts what it takes to turn a parking lot back into a garden.
We'll gather at the Beatrix Farrand Garden at Bellefield. Then, we’ll walk over to the Home Garden at the FDR Historic Site to learn more about the history of Sarah Roosevelt’s Home Garden and the process of recovering the garden from the past from National Park Service horticulturists Anna deCordova and Susan MacAvery.
Sponsored by Starr Library, Staatsburg Library, and the Beatrix Farrand Garden Association.