What's Out There Weekend (WOTW) in Nashville, Part 4 - Sunday, April 14, 2019

(Continued from Part 3...)


This is Part 4 of our Nashville "What's Out There Weekend" put on by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (tclf.org).

In between our tour of Clover Bottom Farm and Cheekwood Estate and Garden, we had time to drive around the lovely area of Nashville where the Cheekwood Estate is located. Bob dropped me off at Cheekwood Estate and Gardens. Right then, the wind kicked up and it felt like it was going to rain. I grabbed my umbrella for protection.

Bob isn't big on mansions and gardens, so he chose to find a sports bar and watch the Portland Trailblazers play the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs. The Blazers won so he was happy.

Our tour group met outside the Visitor Center of this 55-acre estate. Once again, spring is in full bloom here. This is a wonderful place to visit for a cultural landscape tour! Make time for this if you're in Nashville and love gardens and mansions.

First, let's start with the history of the Cheekwood Estate and Gardens from their brochures: "In the early 1900s, Leslie Cheek Sr. ran C.T. Cheek & Sons, a wholesale grocery distributor. In addition to his business, Leslie Sr. invested in the Cheek-Neal Coffee Company, the producer of Maxwell House Coffee, which was sold to Postum Foods for $45 million in 1928. Leslie's fortune quickly expanded, likely also expanding his plans for a new residence. During challenging and uncertain economic times, the Cheeks supported the local economy, hiring Nashville-based workers and craftsmen to work on their new home. The original residence consisted of a total of 12 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms, with a small portion of these dedicated to servant's rooms. The original interiors of the home equaled approximately 30,000 square feet."

And from another brochure:

"Leslie and Mabel Cheek appointed Bryant Fleming, a landscape architect of Ithaca, New York, to design Cheekwood's structures, gardens, and interiors. The mansion is modeled after the grand 18th-century Gregorian estates of Great Britain. The house and surrounding grounds are considered to be one of the finest existing examples of an American Country Place Era estate, characterized by exemplary architecture amid spectacular natural surroundings."

The first stop on our walking tour was the Bradford Robertson Color Garden where we were greeted by these magnificent 19th-century European garden sphinxes. It was my first encounter with garden sphinxes and I must say, they are more delightful to me than a fairy garden. This is a matched pair, however, you will see that the faces, hairstyles, and flowing robes are not identical. 

This mythological beast combines a human and an animal, originally symbolizing divine or superhuman power. The most famous sphinx is the Sphinx of Giza in Egypt. In later cultures, they were guardians of cultures and decoration for thrones. Sphinxes with female faces became popular garden ornaments in the 19th century.

The color garden was between exhibits, but there were still some tulips remaining. We then crossed the entrance road to the Herb Garden and saw some flowers in bloom on the way in. 

Variegated Solomon's Seal.

Gold Collection Lenten Rose.

Lenten Rose.

I have included the interpretive signs for the different types of herbs in the Herb Garden.

A relaxing fountain graces the Herb Garden.

This is my favorite planter!

After the Herb Garden, we re-crossed the road and wound our way down the path, through a pergola, to the Shomu-En Pine-Mist Forest Japanese Garden. The garden is meant to transcend cultures and connect authentic eastern garden design with the native Tennessee landscape.

After spending 15 minutes in the peaceful surroundings of the Japanese Garden, we passed through a picnic area and water garden with a cascading stream and connecting ponds. The picnic area overlooks what was once a Cheek family swimming hole.

Cheek family swimming hole.

The next landscape feature was the Miller Perennial Garden and the Reflection Pool which were down a couple of sets of stairs from the mansion. Euphorbia was in full bloom in the Perennial Garden.

Reflecting Pool had a sculpture
at each end.

Euphorbia.

Stairs from the back patio leading
down to the Reflecting Pool.

More euphorbia.

We continued on around to the Swan Lawn at the back of the house. This area was used as an extension of the ballroom on warm summer evenings. A whole wall of the ballroom opened out to the back yard with a swan fountain.

Swan fountain (now dry).

The back of the house that opens out to the lawn

Also in the area behind the manse is the Boxwood Garden and the Carell Woodland Sculptural Trail. The sculptural trail was closed for renovations and enhancements while we were there. A couple of sculptures were visible from the back yard. 

The sculpture hanging from the trees above our heads is called "One Line Floating Horizontal Twenty Feet, 1994," by George Rickey (American). I called it "The Sword of Damocles." It moves around over your head in the wind.

"One Line Floating Horizontal Twenty Feet, 1994,"
by George Rickey

You can see the beautiful views that this estate has across the surrounding countryside. We finished up our walking tour in the rain and wind. 

The remainder of our landscape tour took us through the parking area on the side of the mansion, down to the front to see the formal curved drive leading up to the main entrance, and then down through the Carell Dogwood Garden and Terrace Garden. The dogwoods were in full bloom. What a treat!

An entrance from the side parking lot.

The grand entry drive circles around this garden
to the front entrance.

Glorious dogwoods!

Cherokee Chief dogwood.

I don't remember what kind of tree this is.

Armillary sphere (a type of sundial).

Terrace Garden tulips and pansies.

This concluded our What's Out There Weekend walks. I now had time to visit the mansion while Bob finished watching the Blazer game. 

Because this blog is already plenty long, I am going to continue it into Part 5!

(To be continued in Part 5...)