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supporters, created Casa del Herrero Foundation in 1993. Two family
members now serve on the Board and they tell the docents wonderful
stories of their memories of the Casa as children visiting their “Grandfur”
and “Granny.”
George Bass is a founding board member of Casa del Herrero; he also
owns half a million chickens and raises organic eggs on a ranch outside
Boston. He credits – or blames – his passion for fowl on his grandmother,
who made him feed the Casa chickens. During WWII Mrs. Steedman
was only allowed to keep her 15 gardeners if her estate was involved in
agriculture. The easiest way to become a farm, she believed, was to raise
chickens. Today there are only two gardeners and no chickens.
Grandson Albert Hinckley, an architect who now lives in Virginia,
tells of “camping” at the Casa: the butler would take the boys’ beds to
the far end of the property, being careful to put each leg of the beds
in a pan of water so ants couldn’t crawl up. In the morning the boys
would all troop up to the dining room for breakfast to be served. Their
first experience in “roughing it!” The kids also enjoyed hiding out at the
goldfish pond to read comic books, which were forbidden.
Granddaughter Margaret Hinckley Wise, who also lives in Virginia,
remembers as a child walking very carefully through the cactus garden and
on to the road that circles the orchard, or through the rose garden and
the
camellia allee,
her favorite flower. She said on a recent visit, “Casa del
Herrero is a mirror of my grandparents’ devotion to excellence, balance
and beauty. May it always remain so.”
Casa del Herrero
The estate is open to the public for docent-led tours of
the house and gardens mid-February through November,
on Wednesdays and Saturdays by reservation only. The
Foundation is maintained by memberships ranging from
$40 to $5,000. There is a summer garden fundraiser and
another during the holiday season when the Casa is decorated
to look like Christmas long ago. Executive Director
Molly
Barker
announced the publication of a book titled “Casa
del Herrero,” written by
Robert Sweeney
, which is set for
release in the fall 2009. The Casa is located at 1387 East
Valley Road. For more information, you are invited to call
805-565-5653 or go online to: www.casadelherrero.com.
(above) Pink Jasmine perfumes the air as it drapes over the tiles in the east garden
(left) A Byzantine doorframe purchased in Florence in 1924 leads out of the herb
garden onto the service courtyard