Regina Cole Sandy Agrafiotis

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A beautiful rendering , created by Carolyn Vibbert, illustrates the number of gardens and character of this property. Both Michael Walek and Todd Bezold find artistic inspiration in their historic house and land, executing many paintings in their own yard. ‘1750 Quarry,’ an acrylic by Walek, is a case in point.

Todd Bezold, a nature painter and scientist, and Michael Walek, who paints, makes etchings, and designs landscapes, use words like “shape,” “light,” “motifs,” “symbols,” and “shadow colors” when they talk about the garden that surrounds their L-shaped Georgian house.

“As artists, we do color combinations that fascinate us,” Walek says. “The garden itself is structured around the historic stonework of the foundations, quarry, and walls that occur throughout the property.”

The two-story house, part of an important mill complex on the western edge of York, Maine, dates to circa 1750. The mill is long gone, but the house, barn, millpond, and quarry––dug to supply foundation stones––are intact. During the past ten years, Bezold and Walek have transformed two acres overgrown with trees and brush into lawns, a vegetable garden, walks, perennial beds, stone patios, and private nooks for sitting to take in the view. Another four acres, the remainder of their lot, is woodland.

As they worked, an apple orchard, ancient stone walls, and evidence of former gardens emerged. “When some light first came through, a spectacular monkshood grew out of a rock,” Walek remembers. “Some hostas popped up, and a lemon yellow daylily appeared. There hadn’t been a garden here since 1950.”

Today the front façade overlooks a rolling lawn, where Adirondack chairs cluster in a companionable circle. The front door is shaded by a 200-year-old maple tree. To one side, the driveway leads to the barn and, behind it, the vegetable garden and the historic quarry, which is planted with Rhododendron, Pachysandra, poplar, and Japanese tree lilacs. “There’s a live, healthy American elm there,” they smile.

Behind the house, a terrace drops down to a formal garden entered through an opening in a two-foot-high stone wall. A rectangular central lawn forms an allée surrounded by boxwood, dahlias, Astilbe, hollyhocks, Platycodon (balloon flower), Salvia, Tradescantia (spiderwort), and castor bean. Woodbine clambers on a cherry tree topped to create an umbrella shape. At one end of the allée an obelisk stands on a pedestal, the irresistible focal point of a garden that’s full of sunshine and mystery at the same time.

“Michael has charge of the formal areas, while I’ve planted things like wild fern and hosta,” Bezold says. “They make a nice transition from the formal gardens to the wild areas. In the woodland areas, wildlings like trout lily thrive.” Bezold also plants the vegetable garden. “Last year we ate the last brussels sprouts on Christmas Eve.”

A walk leading to the kitchen door has grown into a broad patio; it continues to expand. “We bring stones back from wherever we go,” Walek explains. “American stones are in the walk, while the foreign ones are by the door.” “Eventually,” Bezold adds, “it will be a private sitting area enclosed by tall potted plants.”

Bezold and Walek plant Nicotiana and Oriental lilies along walkways and under windows for maximum exposure to their intoxicating fragrance. As befits an eighteenth-century house, there are no foundation plantings. Instead, glazed pots display Clivia and a dwarf banana, and a large antique olive jar marks the corner of the house.

The garden views are harmonious, with repeating colors that lead the eye further. “It’s a big property. If you look from a distance, variety falls apart,” Walek says. “We especially love plants with purple leaves because they make the colors in the shadows vibrate. That strengthens the structure of the garden.”

That structure becomes more prominent in winter, when snow delineates the shapes of the garden beds. “From the house, you can see the circle that surrounds the obelisk in winter, as well as the crescent-moon shape behind it,” Walek says. “Symbols that we’ve incorporated into the garden are hidden by the foliage, then they reemerge.”

Plants this lush and healthy don’t just happen; Bezold and Walek improve the soil with organic material every spring and fall. “We add lime, compost, peat, salt marsh hay, manure––all sorts of things that make the soil richer and easier to work,” Walek adds.

The results speak for themselves.