Guests will get exclusive access to private gardens and landscapes and hear from the designers and their clients about the creative process. Garden Dialogues, a fresh take on garden visits, launched in 2012 and is one of The Cultural Landscape Foundation's most popular programs.
The event provides unique opportunities for small groups to experience some of today's most beautiful and innovative gardens created by some of the most accomplished designers. Participants may choose one location or sign up for the complete series.
The event comprises three separate stops:
Selden Straus House (10:30 a.m.-noon)
Nestled within 25 heavily-wooded acres in the heart of the city, this Modernist home is occupied by its original owner, Marjorie Selden Milby. In 1951 J.T. Rather Jr. of Staub and Rather Architects designed the house, grounds and interiors with ample input from Milby. Famed Modernist landscape architect Tommy Church visited in the 1950s and paid it a very high compliment — he saw nothing he thought should be changed. Over the years, notable horticulturalists including Lynn Lowery, John Teas and Charles Tapley have been involved with the property, but it retains its original design intent. Hosted by Keiji Asakura of Asakura Robinson.
River Oaks Modernist Estate (1:30-2:30 p.m.)
Hidden behind a privet and azalea hedge on a busy thoroughfare in River Oaks is a remarkable mid-20th century International Style brick home by Houston architect Hugo Victor Neuhaus Jr. and grounds by Houston landscape architect C.C. "Pat" Fleming, in collaboration with Neuhaus. As part of the home's recent restoration, Gail Hartz is expanding the outdoor living areas and garden, while remaining faithful to the original Fleming design. Hosted by Gail Hartz of Gail Hartz & Associates.
Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University (3:30 to 4:30 p.m.)
Rice's Central Quadrangle has been transformed into the university's social center with the addition of 6,000-square-foot Brochstein Pavilion by architect Thomas Phifer & Partners and a 10,000-square-foot covered outdoor terrace and garden by the Office of James Burnett. The terrace is covered with decomposed granite and planted with a grid of 48 Allée lacebark elms. Two low, linear fountains define the space under the canopy and movable seating accommodates impromptu gatherings of students and faculty. Additional plantings of live oaks and improved pedestrian paths reinforce the existing framework of the Quadrangle and the campus' Beaux Arts plan. Houston by Chip Trageser and Andrew Albers, office of James Burnett, and Stephen Fox, architectural historian, Anchorage Foundation of Texas.