GARDEN TOUR - 2022

 The Stanly County Historical Society will host a benefit Courtyard & Garden Tour on April 30th from 10:00 - 4:00. Proceeds from this rain or shine event will fund educational programs and preservation initiatives of the Stanly County Historical Society, a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization.

This self-guided tour will allow access to 10 private and public courtyard and garden spaces stretching from Albemarle to Richfield that will delight and inspire you. The tour features a variety of garden spaces including DIY landscapes, restored formal gardens and centuries old family farms.

Advance $15 wristband tickets will be available at the Stanly County History Center, 157 N. Second St in Downtown Albemarle on March 1, 2022.

Payment can be made by cash, check, or mail order to Stanly County Historical Society, PO Box 1384, Albemarle, NC 28002. Pre-paid mail orders will be held at the will call station at the 1852 Isaiah Snuggs House, 112 N. Third St, Downtown Albemarle from 9:30 - 2:00.

$20 wristband tickets may be purchased on the day of the tour at the 1852 Isaiah Snuggs House.

All tickets are non-refundable donations.

Direct inquiries to: Stanlycountyhistory@gmail.com or call 704-986-3777.

The Courtyard & Garden Tour is made possible by our tour site hosts and our generous corporate sponsors Bushwackers Landscaping, Hudson Pool Distributors, Smith’s Home Furnishings, McAulayAllen Design, NJR Group, Mauney’s Farm, Home, and Garden, and The Corner Supermarket.

TOUR SITE #1

Site # 1 features a series of special small connecting gardens behind the cottage at 1051 Pee Dee Avenue. As you enter the wide wrought iron gates, turn right, and walk through the arbor of golden Carolina Jasmine. Stop to smell the sweetness. Breathe deep, plan to meditate around the pond and watch for the flicker of goldfish. Again, take a deep cleansing breath. Proceed through the carport to a pocket garden of bright pollinator annuals to enjoy the butterflies and hummingbirds. Just ahead on the fence is a bushy, green kiwi vine, though lush, has never brought forth any fruit. Not so with the figs on the other side that produced lavish abundance enough that last year, Jana Strukova and Doug Hume, authors and professors at Pfeiffer University, made their first fig preserves. Many friends got to share the sweetness. Note the pomegranate and pecan trees that produce. Beyond the fence are vegetables, mainly tomatoes, in raised beds. The building at the back of the long lot is Dr. Hume’s office. On the lawn, Doug likes to set up his telescope and study the skies. During the tour, plan time to let him show you what he sees, an extra garden tour treat.

TOUR SITE #2

A garden is a poem: lyric, imagistic, narrative and epic. Site # 2, the garden of Tim Johnson at 838 N. Ninth Street is all the above and more. Think original. Think exotic. Think different, very different! Like no other garden you’ve ever seen with many plants finding Stanly County soil for the first time, new and delicious. After all, fourteen majestic, elderly oaks laid down their lives in glory for this garden that for the first time in seventy years will have a mowable lawn. In 2017, Johnson became the second owner of the ultra-contemporary home built by Bain and Marie Jones in 1952. After three years of interior renovations, Johnson began the total redesign of the landscape. The landscape plans of McAulayAllen Design, features a new parking pad and walkway, a water garden feature, and a kitchen patio for entertaining. Front and side plantings include 1500 unique and rare varieties, the likes of which most of us wouldn’t recognize, such as Mungo Pines, Degroot Spires, Wasselis Segura and Pom Pom Cypress. If you love Japanese Maples, come see eight different species and introduce yourself.  Plus, there are imported boulders from Tennessee. This garden is a showcase and a botanical masterpiece of landscaping talent. Tim Johnson is someone who found his calling and embraced it. Plan to spend some quality time at this site. Every minute will widen your botanic world and you’ll be richer for it.

TOUR SITE #3

Site # 3 is the home of Lee and Billie Jean Snuggs at 249 N. Fifth St. Their garden will blaze in color with annuals, perennials, and flowering bulbs. As a DIY landscaper, Lee planted 250 bulbs this spring. Since a hurricane took down the old oaks in the backyard, they now have sunlight and plants that love and thrive in full sun. Probably not yet in bloom, but stretching toward the sun, will be a wall of sunflowers next to the fence. Their love of butterflies is evidenced by their backdoor sign to “Flutter on in.”  Plan to be up on identifying your species of butterflies. They will be here in butterfly heaven.

                                                                              TOUR SITE #4

Site #4, 250 N. Fourth St finds a path of red brick pavers through the back garden leading to site # 3. The rear yard of Mrs. Hilda Snuggs was featured during a 1996 garden tour. Take in what Zoysia grass can do for a landscape.  (Yes, you may step on it.) These two lawns are worth the whole price of the garden tour.  This low maintenance yard offers a burst of color from dogwoods, azaleas, crepe myrtles and dwarf shrubs interspersed with Lenten roses, hyacinths, daffodils, and tulips.  Around the corner, take note of a small pocket garden with Florida ferns and cucumbers grown in a container.

                                                                          TOUR SITE #5

Site # 5 is located at 271 N. Third St. Three generations of the King family reside in this landmark Stanly County house built in 1923 by A.C. Huneycutt.  Huneycutt was a local attorney, Albemarle mayor, and publisher of several newspapers in the Piedmont region.  Now the home of Austin and Megan King, their children Ellison Rose and Khi, along with Austin’s parents, Rob and Dondee King, they enjoy the gardens and rich history of the home.  A wide front porch is shady and thriving with container plantings: ferns, geraniums, and annuals.  Several of the stone urns are original, while matching ones are new.  The backyard slopes steeply to a large brick paver patio where Austin and Megan said their wedding vows. A slate lined rainwater trench winds through the yard, while River Birch trees shade the back yard that includes a bird bath and steppingstones that once belonged to Austin's grandmother, Joyce King.  Some of the landscaping “timbers” are concrete lintels from when Albemarle High School was remodeled.  Note the bottle tree at the bottom of the garden.  A large dogwood, a Twisted Corkscrew Hazel Tree and other trees complete this park-like setting.  Since the path to the patio is downhill with various steps and no handrails, you can enjoy the expansive view from the upper lawn.

                                                                          TOUR SITE #6

Site # 6 is the Stanly County Senior Center at 283 N. Third St.  Here you can see what planning and mulch can do!  In 2021, through the efforts of The Friends of the Senior Center and a gift from the Tom & Jean Rabe Family, new landscaping was installed at the front entrance and a covered courtyard was constructed in the rear. The courtyard includes a shuffleboard court and space for multiple fire pits. The courtyard named “Becky’s Backyard” honors Becky Weemhoff, retired Senior Center Director, for her long tenure of service. The Friend’s Garden features ornamental shrubs, a contemporary garden sculpture and a secluded garden bench to relax and enjoy.

                                                                            TOUR SITE #7

Site # 7 is the formal garden of the Dr. Julius Clegg Hall House at 343 North Second St. In 2017 David Scarboro and his late wife, Brenda purchased the historic home and began the restoration of both house and gardens.  Although many of the original plantings had been lost to time and neglect; Mr. Scarboro, along with the help of local artist John Williams, has restored the gardens based on the original landscape plan.  Most of the hardscape survived and has been restored, including the well-known pergola.

The pergola was designed as an outside tearoom for Dr. Hall’s wife Mary.  Later, this is where their daughter Evelyn, a self-proclaimed Mystic, taught spiritualism and metaphysics.  She also held lectures, one that was called “The Many Facets of Healing” where she taught people how to heal themselves with color, music, mind over matter and meditation. 

The sunken garden is now called The Secret Garden after one of Brenda’s favorite books.  The restoration of the garden was started over three years ago by Bushwackers Landscaping.  It will continue to grow and change as the years follow.  A missing rose arbor will be rebuilt in the spring along with the addition of perennials and other plants.  A dedication of the garden will be held in memory of Brenda Scarboro during the Courtyard and Garden Tour.

                                                     TOUR SITE #8

Leave the manicured lawns of the city for the rolling hills and lush farm lands of the northern area of Stanly County.  Site # 8 is the home of Tim and Deborah Burris at 24114 Collie Road, Gold Hill, and lies just up the road from the picturesque 1898 Mattons Grove United Methodist Church.  Tim and Deborah purchased the abandoned property in 1981. Their first task was to make the 1910 property habitable.  This was followed by years of improvements to meet the needs of a growing family.  Tim and Deborah have retained much of the original character of the house and grounds while completing a deck, brick paver patio, raised bed kitchen garden and a larger garden and many other landscaping changes.  Most recently they have begun projects to restore each of the outbuildings.

                                                   TOUR SITE #9

Tour sites 9 and 10 are situated on beautiful rolling farmland belonging to the Lipe Family since 1870. Site 9, 37767 Pauls Crossing Road, Richfield is the home of Ed and Nancy Lipe. Ed grew up on the farm helping his grandparents and their sons raise cattle and crops with the help of their WD45 tractor. In 2002, Ed and Nancy selected the site for their new home and oriented the location of the home to best celebrate the stunning sunsets from the rear deck and sunporch, however building in a farm field meant there would be no standing trees other than two black walnuts trees to the rear of the property. The house and pool were completed in 2005.

A hobbyist wine maker since 2008, Ed nurtures the front yard grape vines and has tried several varietals of US hybrids and vinifera grapes with some success. In 2021, he paired down the varietals to Seyval Blanc (white grapes) and Chamborcin (red/purple grapes). Features of this idyllic outdoor living space include a garden gate handcrafted from reclaimed wood from Ed’s grandfather’s shop, whimsical yard art, inground pool, pergola and artist studio.

                                                   TOUR SITE #10

Site 10, 37684 Paul's Crossing Road, Richfield is the home of Tom and Anne Lipe. Tom and Anne are the 4th generation to reside in the family homestead built around 1870. They embarked on a complete house restoration in 2012 and began full time residency following their retirement in 2018. Tom’s mother, Margaret was an avid gardener and along with her husband Thomas, planted a myriad of daffodils and iris on the property. Tom and Anne have restored the century old flower garden with a new stone border reconstructed by local stone mason, Randy Almond. During the summer growing season,  Anne enjoys tending a small raised bed kitchen garden of fragrant lavender, basil, parsley and oregano. Their spacious screened porch allows for expansive views of the flower garden, seasonal crops and fruit trees surrounding the homestead.