Mansion and History

In 1895, Augustus Van Wickle and his wife, Bessie Pardee Van Wickle, purchased 70 acres of waterfront land in Bristol, RI and named it Blithewold (Old English for “happy woodland”). They built a large, Queen Anne style mansion, and moved in during the summer of 1896. They would reside at Blithewold from May until November.  Bessie hired John DeWolf, Bristol landscape architect and Superintendent of Prospect Park, New York City, to help implement her vision of a horticultural sanctuary.

Plans included the subtle grading of the Great Lawn and the planting of specimen trees. A golf course was laid out on the southern part of the property, complete with a club house for entertaining. Docks, bath-houses, and swimming platforms were built on the waterfront, and fine sand was brought in from Martha’s Vineyard to create a sandy beach.

In 1898, Augustus was killed in a skeet-shooting accident. He left two daughters, Marjorie, born in 1883, and Augustine, born several months after her father’s untimely death. The family continued summering at Blithewold, and in 1901, Bessie married William McKee, a successful Boston businessman and an old friend of Augustus. The McKees were known for their gracious hospitality and carefully orchestrated parties for family and friends.

In 1906, tragedy struck again when fire completely destroyed their beautiful home. The fire was slow-burning, and with the help of many people from Bristol they were able to remove all the furniture and furnishings, even fireplaces and bathtubs. The following year, a second, grander mansion was built on the same site in an English Country Manor style. Bessie and John DeWolf continued their tireless work, adding elements to the grounds: rare trees including a now-90-ft giant sequoia, stone walls, and a formal perennial garden

Rescuing an Endangered Property

Marjorie Van Wickle Lyon inherited her mother’s talents as a horticulturist, and after her mother’s death she continued Bessie's master plan for the property, developing the arboretum and cultivating rare plants. When Marjorie left her historic garden estate and a significant endowment to a non-profit organization in 1976, she could not have anticipated the financial problems that threatened the property less than 25 years later.  In 1998, years of deficit operations forced the lay-off of nearly all full time Blithewold staff and greatly reduced public access and programming.  Worse, a proposal to lease the property to a developer was seriously considered,  a proposal that would have restricted or prohibited public access in the future.

To rescue Blithewold, a small group of concerned citizens banded together, raised $650,000 in just a few weeks to provide operating monies until a permanent solution could be found, and took over management of the estate under a 99-year lease.  This group, incorporated as Save Blithewold, Inc.,  was motivated by a desire to keep Blithewold's doors and garden gates open to the public, and was dedicated to the principle of financially responsible management, so that this kind of fiduciary "close call" could never happen again.

Achievements

Since assuming stewardship responsibility for Blithewold in 1999, Save Blithewold, Inc, has concentrated on rebuilding a broad base of support for the property in the community and amongst horticultural enthusiasts, increasing earned income from all sources, increasing the quality of care and interpretation of the gardens, grounds and mansion. The new organization laid the groundwork for a comprehensive campaign to achieve a reasonable and sustainable balance between earned income, annual fundraising, and endowment.  Signs of success include:

  • A growing membership base; currently at 1,300
  • Earned income accounts for above average 60% of operating budget
  • Growing visitation and attendance at education programs (35,000 visitors annually)
  • A dedicated core of over 200 volunteers who assist in running the property
  • Recognition in the press and professional organizations as a major horticultural and historic attraction
  • An endowment of $3.2 million

In 2006 the Board of Directors unanimously approved changing our corporate name to Blithewold, Inc. to  reflect our success and transformation into a financially and organizationally strong institution.

Blithewold