Evergreen Terrace

Through her design of the gardens, Marian Coffin sought to strike a balance between beauty, leisure, and utility, as can be seen in the serene and transitory Evergreen Terrace. Sandwiched between the towering and formal Mansion Flagstone Terrace and the ground-level pool terrace, the Evergreen terrace was designed as a long, rectangular space decorated with broad-leaf evergreens and garden ornaments. The north end of the terrace offered a seating area and the entrance to the pool house, which during the Sharps' residence was used as the pumphouse as well as the showering and changing room for family and guests. There was once an awning with garden seating where the stone bench now sits. 

Below the mansion’s entrance and terrace the Evergreen Terrace offers a quiet informality compared to the flagstone terrace above it. The statues and seating provoke contemplation, perhaps once a place for parents and grandparents to oversee the children playing in the swimming pool below. Marian Coffin was conscious of the everyday use of the garden’s spaces while making sure to keep things aesthetically cohesive: the terrace’s retaining wall is made out of the same brandywine granite as the mansion above.