TRAIL MIX: Treasure Hunt

 

From certain spots in the lush Tyringham Valley in Massachusetts, the passing motorist may catch a glimpse of four white columns standing far off in the woods, only to find them gone when he cranes his neck for a second look. That is Ashintully, a place at once ruined, enchanting, and elusive.

 

Once the site of a Georgian-style mansion built by Robb and Grace de Peyster Tytus in the early-twentieth century, Ashintully is best known today for its charming gardens designed and planted by Tytus descendant John McLennan, a contemporary composer.

 

The mansion, once known to locals as the Marble Palace for the way its white stucco reflected the sun, burned in 1952. Today, the Trustees of Reservations owns and manages Ashintully Gardens, opening the property to the public on a limited basis from June through October.

 

A tour starts in a variety of formal and informal gardens ornamented by urns and statuary and lined by a tumbling mountain brook. Linger here, but don’t neglect to follow the path up the left bank of the stream; a half-mile up the hill, the path leans leftward and brings walkers to the ruins of the Marble Palace. Four colossal Doric columns frame a fine view north up the Tyringham Valley to the Trustees’ other signature property in town, Tyringham Cobble.

 

Having moved from the vibrant perfection of the gardens to the melancholy romance of the ruins, a walker’s best choice is to exit stage right, onto an old stone-walled carriage road that switches back and forth through the woods, descending to pastoral Sodom Road. From there, it’s a short walk back along the road to the gardens. Elapsed time: sixty minutes or a hundred years, depending on how you count. [JUNE 2010]

 

Tad Ames is president of Berkshire Natural Resources Council.

 

 

THE GOODS
Ashintully Gardens
Wed & Sat 1-5
Sodom Road
Tyringham, Mass.
www.thetrustees.org