When a Billionaire Fixes Up a Garden
By Linda Lee —
Just off Jobs Lane in Southampton is a garden that has received a stunning makeover. The newly renamed Paulson Family Gardens are open for everyone to enjoy.
John Paulson, the Wall Street trader who made $4 billion betting against subprime mortgages in 2007, has through the Paulson Family Foundation donated $3.4 million to redo the garden that is attached to the Southampton Arts Museum.
It was once the Parrish Art Museum, built by Samuel Parrish to house his collection of Italian Renaissance and reproduction art. In 1898 he asked his neighbor, Grosvenor (pronounced GRUV-ner) Atterbury, a graduate of Columbia University in landscape architecture who had not yet designed a thing, to ceate the garden around his classical building.
A hand-tinted 1902 postcard of the Parrish museum arboretum, with Grosvenor Atterbury’s garden design from 1898.
Atterbury, who had an 80-acre estate in Southampton, did just that. The garden he designed had a fountain, carved stone benches, plinths, wall medallions, a round water feature, formal flower beds and fussy decorations. Parrish’s faith in his neighbor was well earned; Atterbury went on to work for the Rockefellers and other swells.
The Southampton Arts Center has used the three-acre garden for plein air painting classes, and programing. John Paulson says his wife, Alina de Almeida, suggested his foundation might want to spruce it up a bit.
The water feature transformed, Here small specimen trees stand like children around a campfire while the white delphiniums, the dominant flower of the week, poke out along the walkways. (Photo Credit: Anthony Crisafulli)
After interviewing other landscape architects, Paulson, Bill Manger, the Mayor of Southampton Village, and the Southampton Arts Center director, Simone Levinson, settled on Chris LaGuardia, who had worked for the revered Hamptons modernist architect Norman Jaffe. LaGuardia’s design was completed in a staggering nine-month period, resulting in what we see today.
The layering of plant materials brings a different feel to the garden, which had previously been mostly open space; Yet the design offers room for performances. (Photo Credit: Anthony Crisafulli)
The dedication, on July 3, was on a blistering hot day. John Paulson, at the occasion, said, “Really, it’s beyond my expectations.” And he said, “First I want to give credit to my wife, Alina. It was about two years ago, we were walking through town and she said, ‘Well what about this park. It needs some loving care. It looks kind of abandoned.” He turned to her, in a demure off-white sleeveless dress. “So, thank you Alina,” he said.
John Paulson with his wife, Alina de Almeida (Photo Credit: Rob Rich/Society Allure)
“It’s sort of like Alice in Wonderland, you come through the gate and you walk through the looking glass,” he said. “You come in off the busy street, and you come into this oasis of beauty, gardens, tall trees, shade.” Walkways are level and welcoming to families with strollers and people in wheelchairs, paths are wide and circulation through the garden is thoughtful. Although there were already mature trees in the park, some 50 additional trees were planted, many to fill in the understory including cherry trees and maples.
There are benches in shady spots where a visitor can sit with a cup of coffee and read. Or just sit.
Simone Levinson, the director of the museum, made a short speech, keeping in mind the comfort of people gathered in the heat, and then introduced the staff of Chris LaGuardia Landscaping, the ones who did the actual work.
Alina de Almeida, John Paulson, Simone Levinson and Bill Manger (Photo Credit: Rob Rich/Society Allure)
A long pink ribbon was cut, and guests were split into groups to tour the various “rooms” in the garden.
In attendance were Stacey Bronfman and Alex Roepers, Walter Deane, Father Alex Karloutsos, Jamee and Peter Gregory, Marjorie and Josh Harris, Renee Harbers Liddell and Chris Liddell, Cathy and Malcolm Price, Lynn and Steve Ross, Caryn and David Rubenstein, Chuck and Ellen Scarborough, Susan Stevenson and Victoria Wyman.
Ellen and Chuck Scarborough (Photo Credit: Rob Rich/Society Allure)
