House & Garden Tour: Jeduthan Abbot House in Andover

May 19-20, the Andover Garden Club is presenting a tour of the Jeduthan Abbot House and its elegant gardens.

Built circa 1809 and listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, the home belonged to the son of George Abbot, one of the six founding families of Andover. That places the house in the Federal Period, and it is tastefully decorated with furniture and decorative arts of the period.

In designing and cultivating the extensive gardens that surround the house, the owner, a landscape designer, has been influenced by both the classical and the English traditions. In 2001, the Massachusetts Horticulture Society awarded the gardens the H. H. Hunnewell award.

The upper gardens developed over forty years in the English manner: a balanced design on a central axis with vistas and formal elements. Garden rooms contain trees, intersectional and herbaceous peonies, an extensive collection of Ghent Azaleas and other prized rhododendrons, and unusual varieties of dwarf and ornamental evergreens.

The lower area focuses on a wildlife containment pond built to stem the tide of an overzealous beaver population. This area houses a folk-art collection of garden ornamentation.

Tickets are $20 and will be sold ONLY IN ADVANCE of the tour. Any Andover Garden Club member can provide tickets. Or contact Dana MacKay at 978-475-4451 or dmmm51@yahoo.com.