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Ridgefield

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Greenwich Post The Darien TimesNew Canaan Advertiser The Ridgefield Press The Wilton Bulletin The Weston Forum The Redding Pilot The Lewisboro LedgerVo

l. X

III,

Num

ber 4

Bryan H

aeffele photo

Home&

Garden HOMEApril 2009

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2 HOME, a Hersam Acorn special section, Ridgefield, Conn. April 2009

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Christopher Jay CohanLandscapes of Distinction

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Christopher Jay CohanLandscapes of Distinction

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FEATURESLearning to love cactus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7No project is too large, or too small . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10The charm of the unexpected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15Hidden away in full view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-19Let there be light! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-29Less lawn, more leisure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36-37Say it with silk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42-43

DEPARTMENTSRacking One’s Brain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5Home Moaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9Into the Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13Home of the Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-23The Jewelry Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Window on Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30-31

Cover: Home of the Month in Ridgefield.

HOME

April 2009 HOME, a Hersam Acorn special section, Ridgefield, Conn. 3

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That gold bracelet ... the one a long-removed boyfriend gave you back in the 1980s? Storing it in a drawer might have been a better option than throwing it in the lout’s face when he admitted he was seeing someone else.

A few decades later, revenge is indeed best served cold — as in cold hard cash.

Tupperware, R.I.P. The new model of home/business entertainment is the gold party, which is gaining popularity throughout the country, including well-heeled suburbs in Fairfield County.

Several economic factors have created lift-off for the gatherings, at which guests (primarily women) bring jewelry and sell it on the spot to a gold buyer. Job losses have left people looking for ways to produce income. The historic rise in the value of gold has led to entrepreneurs looking for ways to acquire gold, which can then be sold to refiners.

“It’s a perfect storm,” said Margaret Petrucelli. “It works for both sides. The people selling the gold and the people buying the gold.”

Margaret, a Greenwich resident, is the owner of It’s A Gold Mine Party, a company that advertises for people willing to host a gold party. The host gets a 10% commission on the total amount of cash for gold.

Margaret, 42, is new to the field. She worked for Credit Suisse and then Goldman Sachs before getting laid off by the latter last November. A former co-worker who lives in Massachusetts introduced her to gold parties, and she launched her own company in January.

Gold diggers: Combing drawers to spin old jewelry into cashby Tim Murphy

■ RACKING I ONE’S I BRAIN ■

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The venture has gone well enough that she has already hired six indepen-dent contractors. In March, she worked at 18 parties, mostly in Greenwich and Darien.

“With this economy, there are a lot of women who are out of work or their husbands are out of work,” said Margaret. “Hosting a gold party is fun, and it’s a way to bring in some money.”

The premise is also appealing to guests, who might be hesitant to send their items to a faceless gold-buying company that advertises online or through info-mercials. At a gold party, attendees are with friends, neighbors or relatives, and there is often wine and appetizers. That beats the local pawn shop, which rarely knows how to pair a Bordeaux with artisanal cheese.

“There’s a comfortability factor,” said Margaret. “It doesn’t feel strange.”Those attending usually bring similar items: dented or broken bracelets,

outdated rings, an earring that has lost its matching other. So far, no one has showed up with teeth.

At the parties, Margaret uses a magnet test designed to weed out plated piec-es, and then employs a jewelers’ loupe and an electro-magnet karat tester. The cash payout is based on karats and weight, and also the daily price of gold.

“It’s not rocket science,” she said. “But you can make some mistakes and wind up overvaluing an item.”

Margaret says many guests are surprised at how much money they receive. “I’ll say to them, ‘What do you think this is worth?’ And they usually say some-thing like $100,” she said. “Then if I tell them it’s actually worth $600 there is a lot of screaming.”

After buying the jewelry, she sends it to one of several gold refiners, who melt it down and take a percentage before paying her.

“I’ve got two graduate degrees and I worked for more than 20 years in mort-gage for Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs,” she said. “I never thought I’d be doing something like this, but I’m enjoying it. It’s totally new for me.”

Part of that enjoyment comes from hearing the details behind the jewelry. “They will tell you stories,” said Margaret. “A lot of the pieces were from old boyfriends or ex-husbands.”

The parties are usually bereft of males, unless the husband or brother of a woman hosting the party is around. Gender equity is unlikely, unless a lucrative market for boiling down baseball cards, old pizza boxes or your father’s Playboys emerges.

“A few guys have come to some of the fund-raisers I’ve done at health clubs,” she said. They’ve brought rings or gold necklaces that they haven’t worn in years.”

Sustainability and future growth are uncertain for the gold-party industry. When (if ) the economy improves, people might be less inclined to sell their jewelry or host an event. A decrease in gold prices could also signal a death knell if refiners decide to cut back on intake. And even if the recession lingers, there’s a risk of people exhausting their supply of unwanted or damaged gold jewelry.

“No one knows where gold parties will go,” said Margaret. “But right now, they’re going well. I can’t say I invented them, but I believe in them.” ■

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The word cactus to many people conjures up an image of a less-than-beautiful, often-dangerous-looking, somewhat-hostile plant that could be a remnant of foliage from the dinosaur age. But not everyone feels that way.

To Ray Moskow, a Wiltonian who has over 300 cacti spread throughout his house — including baby cactus in a nursery bed in the dining room and giant cac-tus a few inches away from the ceiling — the propagation, care and feeding of cacti is a deeply rewarding experience.

His cactus opus began 40 years ago when a friend took pity on his bare-bones bachelor apartment and brought him a small cactus plant, which, at least, was a bit of nature, and for an undomesticated bachelor would require almost no care.

As he accumulated more little cacti, he began to wonder why their architecture was so defensive (thorns, needles, spines). How did they manage to retain water for so long a time? Why did they grow in such asymmetrical patterns? This was the beginning of his cactus connection. Before he knew it, he had 40 plants.

In the beginning, he learned their Latin names and spouted them proudly when friends viewed his collection. “But after awhile, I realized this wasn’t going over too well, so I switched and reverted to American names, like bunny ears, barrel cactus and true succulents.”

The collection grew and grew, partly because Ray began propagating his plants. He says he’s very much pro-life when it comes to cactus, and generates more than 50 offspring each year. “That leads to a lot more plants than we need, so I try giv-ing them away. At one point my daughter in Holyoke, Mass., posted a note on a Web site and got 30 responses. So I packed up 70 plants and delivered them to her to distribute.

Learning to love cactusby Lois Alcosser

It all began with a gift of one cactus, which soon grew to 40 and now number more than 300.

Ray M

oskow

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In late April, the plants go out on the deck. In September, they come back into the house. “We don’t have a greenhouse, so our home looks like a spiny arboretum. My very tolerant wife puts up with this habit of mine,” Ray says.

Cactus are about 85% water, which stems from their evolutionary history as des-ert plants that could supply water to parched animals. Cacti can absorb water from the air. They have shallow root structures and hibernate in the winter. They grow slowly, and it’s thought that their unhurried growth pattern is what gives them the energy to often reach enormous heights and live longer than many humans. “People ask me if I have one of those Saguaro cacti, and I explain that this plant is native to the Southwest and Mexico,” Ray says. “It can grow to 50 feet high. I have a two-footer that looks a lot like it, and I did have a plant grow to seven-and-a-half-feet and, of course, I had to cut it down.”

Caring for them is not particularly time-consuming or difficult. Water about every three weeks, letting the water run right through the soil, which is a mix-ture of potting soil and sand. They like a sunny window in the winter, and partial shade during the outdoor season, and “they like me to read the New York Times to

them,” he says (though maybe he was joking). Not all varieties flower, but the ones that do, in summertime, are quite beautiful. Some flower only at night.

As home décor, cacti can be very dramatic and lend an aura of exotic places. Their unusual shapes, textures, posture, and personality are like a living tapestry, and, like any work of art, reveal something new and unexpected every time you look. Spiny cacti have also been used as fences, rather like natural barbed wire. It’s surprising but reassuring to know that the plant order Caryophyllales includes not only cactus, but baby’s breath, carnations and bougainvillea.

“A cactus garden is casual,” Ray says. “It’s not like an English flower bed that has to be just so. You can count on having your plants a long time. In their passive, unstressed way, they can live 35 to 45 years with no special care whatsoever.”

See Cactus page 39

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When I decided to become a nurse, it was because I wanted to seriously focus on my writing. My logic was that if I could give up all the other things I was doing, I could be a nurse, collect a regular paycheck and focus all my freed-up extra time on writing a novel.

This plan would only work if the novel became a selection of the Oprah book club, made me a millionaire, and, on the strength of the seven-figure movie rights, enable us to retire to our farm in the Irish countryside where Melissa could paint and I could spend the rest of my days watching Bob Ross “Joy of Painting” reruns on satellite. As long as you have a plan.

It probably won’t come as a huge surprise to readers that this plan is still a work in progress. I have completed the first part of the plan, and I am now a registered nurse. I have secured a weekly paycheck. And I often have as many as five days in a row when I am not scheduled to work. My original plan did not have me working the overnight shift, as I am now doing, and I did not factor the natural biological

Six strings attachedby Ben Guerrero

■ HOME I MOANER ■

Ben G

uerrero

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necessity of sleep into the equation, but, I am well on my way to the execution of my plan.

Of course, there is the problem of the novel itself. I have started it several times, and at last check, I believe I have all of two pages in it. Having said that, I have not opened that particular file on my computer since — well — I don’t remember. In fact, I am not sure where it’s saved on my hard disk.

Lately, I’ve been thinking that maybe my problem isn’t one of time, or even of ideas. I got to thinking: What do all the other successful writers have that I don’t have? I know, I know, besides talent and agents and money? Well, I’ve done the research, and I was as happy to discover, as you would be surprised to know, that all I lacked was an electric guitar.

See Home Moaner page 17

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It’s a long way from Uruguay to Fairfield County, but Freddy Miraballes, along with his wife, Monica, made the journey 25 years ago. After high school, Freddy, who was born and raised in Uruguay, went to work with his father, John, a real estate developer who had his own company building houses in Punta del Este.

“Punta del Este is in a high-end resort area of South America, and people from all over the world go on vaca-tion there, including celebrities such as Ralph Lauren,” Freddy said. “My father built houses and small apart-

ments on the beach, and then things changed in the economy, as always happens, but it was more pronounced in Uruguay back in 1983,” Freddy said.

He decided to come to America, and in 1984, Freddy and Monica started an office- and house-clean-ing business. “My wife and I worked 24/7, and it was

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Spring will be in full bloom when the latest edition of 100 THINGS TO DO appears, with suggestions for getting out and about in Fairfield and Westchester Counties.

100 THINGS TO DO will appear in the Greenwich Post, New Canaan Advertiser,The Darien Times, The Ridgefield Press, The Wilton Bulletin, The Weston Forum,The Redding Pilot and The Lewisboro Ledger. There will also be a Bonus Distribution to area realtors, local Chambers of Commerce, and places visited by tourists, throughout Fairfield County, and Westchester County in New York.

Reader response has been fantastic, so don't be left out!

Greenwich Post | New Canaan Advertiser | The Darien Times | The Ridgefi eld Press | The Wilton Bulletin | The Redding Pilot | The Weston Forum | The Lewisboro Ledger

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PUBLICATION DATE:

May 21, 2009


All winter you have been thinking that you should grow some vegetables and now is the time to get started. If you didn’t order seeds by mail, you can find them at your local garden center. Early April is the time to plant the following from seed directly into the garden: carrots, onion seed, beets, lettuce and other greens, Swiss chard, and radishes. You should already have planted spinach, tur-nips and all different peas.

One of my favorite early greens is arugula. The seeds will be ready to harvest in 35 days after planting. That is the speediest salad green around. The flavor is addictive, so beware. My favorite way to eat arugula is on a sandwich, the girls I work with will say, “Arugula again today?” The smell is pretty strong and their mouths are watering for some of it.

It’s time for the annual plant sale at the Ballard Greenhouse in Ridgefield — May 8th and 9th from 8:30 to 2. This year, these are some of the peren-nials you’ll find: Amsonia tabernaemontana, Asclepias incarnate “Cinderella,” Chasmanthium latifolium, Tiarella “Black Snowflake,” and Tradescantia

“Bilberry Ice.” In keeping with the green movement, forty percent of the plants grown are native, and there will be an increase in the number of vegetable plants.

At last year’s sale, remember that special promotion to order the Celsiana rose? It will be available this year, too, so that’s another reason to attend. If you haven’t been to the greenhouse sale before, you are in for a treat — actually, just going inside the antique greenhouse is a treat.

Stokesia laevis “Peachie’s Pick” was a new perennial last year, which I tried in a few gardens, including my own. Stokesia asters have always possessed a desirable bloom and great color, but many varieties just haven’t measured up with long bloom time and survivability. Peachie’s Pick was discovered by a Mississippi gardener, and has been judged the best garden-performing Stokesia available.

The difference was evident to us last summer — the violet-blue double flowers rise above the foliage in late June and continue into August. When the

Veggies bunk in with flowers by Donna Clark

■ INTO I THE I GARDEN ■

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first blooms were turning brown, we decided not to deadhead, because usually there is no rebloom. Well, not so with Peachie’s Pick. New buds appeared and it continued to bloom into August. You need to plant this Stokesia in full sun or partial shade and in well-drained soil. Plant in groups of three or more for a stunning summer carpet of color. One last good thing is, it wintered in the gardens.

If you are gardening in partial shade, a perennial to add is Ligularia stenocephala “The Rocket.” I like to plant at least five of these in more of a row than a circle, so that their flower spikes can stand out. I call this the delphinium for partial shade. The

See Into the Garden page 26

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Vol.XIII, Number 4is a special section to:

Greenwich Post, The Darien Times,New Canaan Advertiser,

The Ridgefield Press, The Wilton Bulletin,The Redding Pilot and The Weston Forum

in Connecticut,and The Lewisboro Ledger

in New York•

47,000 copies published monthly•

Jackie Perry, editorJessica Perlinski, designer

•Thomas B. Nash, publisher

•For advertising information, call

203-438-6544•

For information on editorialsubmissions, call203-894-3380

E-mail: [email protected]•

Extra copies are available free atthe Hersam Acorn office,

16 Bailey Avenue, Ridgefield, Conn.(behind the town hall)

Copyright 2009, Hersam Acorn Newspapers, LLC

Box 1019Ridgefield, Conn 06877

203-438-6544

HOME


Since 1841, the slate-blue/grey house with white trim and stately Greek Revival front portico has been a landmark on Comstock Hill Road in New Canaan’s historic Silvermine area.

Over the years, the house — part of an estate that includes two guest houses, pool and greenhouse — has seen several additions and has recently been totally renovated by its current owners.

The property seems much larger than its nearly two acres, as behind the house are sweeping views of terraced lawns, old stone walls, flower beds, and wood-lands. At the highest level, a brick courtyard with circular garden and statue lead to a heated pool with terrace and gazebo.

You can enter the three-story main house at mid-level, through a side entrance off the driveway, which brings you through a mud room into the spacious updated kitchen with granite island and sunny eating area with bay window. If you take the porch steps that lead to the more formal front door and entrance hall, the kitchen at is on the left and a living room with fireplace on the right. Both rooms have French doors opening onto a charming stone terrace interlaced with flowering thyme. Off the living room is a delightful solarium, which has a Palladian-style window and beamed ceiling, which is crowned in the center with a cathedral ceiling of skylights.

The lower level, which has its own entrance near the front steps, contains a cheerful family room with bay window, a laundry room, full bath, and a spacious yet cozy dining room with two brick walls, a large fireplace and beehive oven. This was the original kitchen, and a dumbwaiter has been installed to facilitate

LANDMARK SILVERMINE HOME

The charm of the unexpectedby Nancy Helle

Sweeping views of terraced lawns, old stone walls, flower beds, and woodlands delight the eye.

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the transfer of food from the new kitchen above. Adjoining the din-ing room is a large, sunny home office with built-ins created by the current owners, who also enclosed an open porch under the solari-um.

The upper level has their most recent addition — a master bed-room suite with large dressing room and a balcony sitting area over-looking the beautiful, expansive landscape in back. There are three more bedrooms and a second full bath on this level. All the bed-rooms are attractively decorated, and one has a loft sleeping area.

This one-of-a-kind home offers the charm of the unexpected throughout. Perhaps that’s because over the years it has been lived in by many creative people, each of whom has left a mark. John Ryder, master carpenter built the house in 1841 from a Greek Revival design his wife admired in a book of plans. The Deering family, who owned the property from 1864 to 1907, added several outbuildings, two of which have been converted into guest cottages. One is a stu-dio with kitchen, full bath and garage, and the other is the original barn, which has a large living/dining area, full kitchen, bath and loft bedroom. There is also a three-car garage and workshop. The next home owner was the Dean of Architecture at Columbia University, William Boring, who purchased the house as a summer residence, adding his own renovations.

Glorious gardens are a focal point, and the solarium is the place to bask in them.See Silvermine home page 16

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Hamilton Hamilton, renowned landscape and portrait painter, also lived in the house with his family from 1915 to 1919, producing many paintings of the home and its surrounding landscape, some of which are in the Norwalk Museum’s permanent collection. He was a founding member of the Silvermine Guild of Artists, which has morphed into today’s Silvermine Guild Arts Center.

Its six-acre campus adjoins the house’s property, contributing to the park-like set-ting.

Richardson Wright, long-time editor of “House and Garden,” was the next owner. Christening it the Sun House, he described its architecture as Colonial Greek Revival. Wright created extensive gardens and stone walls, many of which exist today. He chronicled his life in the house and his changes to both house and gardens in several books, including Truly Rural and A Small House and Large Garden.

The Yankee family purchased the house in 1960 and lived in it for nearly 35 years. Mrs. Yankee was Eileen Heckart, the Emmy, Oscar and Tony award-win-ning actress. Best known for her role in Butterflies are Free, she was an active member of the “Connecticut Mafia” of Hollywood and Broadway celebri-ties, which included Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Jason Robards, June Havoc, and Vivian Vance. Mary Martin and Ethel Merman were fre-quent guests back in the 1960s.

The current owners purchased the home from the Yankees in 1994, and have lovingly restored and updated it as well as maintained the beautiful prop-erty with its many gardens and speci-men plantings.

The property may be viewed on William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty site, 135comstockhill.com. Listing agent is Susan Blabey, 203-979-7774. ■

Silvermine home continued from page 15

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Yep. Many successful writers keep an electric guitar nearby so when they are stuck, mid-sentence, participles dangling and metaphors mixing, they merely flip a ready six-string into their laps and start twanging away until whatever was caus-ing the logjam has been strummed into the stratosphere. And then resume typing their way onto the bestseller lists.

So, I decided to get an electric guitar. But I wasn’t just going to go down to the corner music shop and buy one, I was going to do more research, decide which one I really wanted, and then hold out until I found it.

When I was younger and more musical, I found a guitar on the porch of my neighborhood thrift shop. It was $10, which was a sizable fortune for me at the time, but not for a guitar. It was made of masonite, and cerulean blue. I thought it was hilarious! I couldn’t play the guitar at the time (I can’t now), but I couldn’t resist it. It sounded awful, but the action, or the way the strings were arranged in relation to the frets, was sur-prisingly good. This made the formation of the two chords I actually knew less stressful on my tender, pudgy fingers.

The poor guitar did not fare very well in the jumbly bach-elor pad of my misspent youth. I covered the blue masonite with woodgrain contact paper and for some reason found it necessary to embed the dial of a rotary phone into its surface. Eventually it was tossed into the garbage during some purge. I wish I had been more respectful.

I wish I had been more respectful because it turns out that this guitar, manufactured by the Danelectro company was valuable and would probably fetch a couple of thousand dollars today had I preserved it. Never mind the money, of course, I’d be damned happy to still have the instrument in my collection.

So, as an homage to my own stupidity, I decided to get a Danelectro 2007 Dano Pro reissue. Which, it turns out, isn’t that easy. On my recent birthday, I drove upstate to stare at

the thousands of guitars in the music stores. Not one of the washed-up rock stars behind the counters could offer me a Danelectro, though every one of them had heard of the brand and had nothing but good things to say about it.

Had I been in the market for a Fender, a Guild or a Gibson, there would have been no shortage of fine guitars in all price ranges for me to choose from. But I wanted the “Keen Green” Dano Pro. There had to be one somewhere.

But there wasn’t. True, someone in Australia was selling one on eBay for 800 units of Australian money, but that was all I could find.

A guitar made as recently as two years ago was extinct? There were tons of information on my guitar and hours

of footage on YouTube by a variety of guitar geeks demon-strating its tone and versatility. Had the company produced only eleven units? Even their official corporate Web site had moved on, vaguely touting their newest reissue, admittedly another intriguingly handsome guitar, but not the same. Different lines, different philosophy — different everything.

Finally, I found a store in Toronto that had the ’07 in stock. I asked the man why I couldn’t find one in the U.S., after all, the corporate HQ is in California. He couldn’t give me an answer.

“We’ve got a lot of them up here in Canada, eh?” he told me. I ordered mine on a Friday evening, and since the shop was closed on Monday, he didn’t ship it to me until Tuesday. He predicted it was going to take five days. I tracked the package as it made its way across the border, and went off to have dinner 10 minutes before attempted delivery was made at my door the following Friday night.

I had to wait until Monday morning to go over to UPS and pick it up after my long night at work as a nurse.

The Keen Green Dano Pro 2007 sits in a stand next to my desk waiting for me to need it as the next part of my plan slides neatly into place.

It was a dark and stormy night ... [email protected]. ■

Home Moaner continued from page 9

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Moon Gate is both a Ridgefield landmark and something of a mystery. It is situated on the corner of Route 7 and Florida Hill Road, and passersby on Route 7 see only the top of a house, with intriguing-looking windows, above the long, tall, solid fence. Those who drive along windy Florida Hill Road, however, are offered a glimpse of the property through a circular opening in the fence — the Moon Gate.

The enticing view is of a waterfall, flowing through a moon-shaped opening in a picturesque stone bridge, which drops again into a lower pond. Depending on the direction traveled, you may also see the side of the house, its stone foundation bordering the pond, with a diamond-paned triple window set in the overhanging upper level.

Entry to this five-acre-plus-pond kingdom is through a sliding gate off Route 7. The four-bedroom, 6,800-square-foot main house is said to have served as a cannonball factory during the Revolutionary War. A new barn-style, two-bed-

Moon GateHIDDEN AWAY IN FULL VIEW

by Janis Gibson

A tantalizing glimpse into a haven that seems to exist unto itself.

John Queenan

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room guest house, a boat house, several small buildings, a 60-foot pool, artistic stone walls, and abundant landscaping complete the picture.

The property could be a personal campground for children, grandchildren and athletic adults. In addition to the pool and pond, which can be lit at night for winter hockey games, a full-court basketball area crosses the driveway, and there is a playhouse and a fabulous playground. The home, too, is set for entertaining, with rooms that flow into each other and outside, whether around the swimming pool, on the terraces beside the pond or by the waterfall.

Any concerns about traffic noise from Route 7 are quickly forgotten, for as you approach the house, the sound of the waterfall fills the air. It is surprisingly quiet in the house, however, the waterfall more like white noise when the doors and windows are closed, unless there has been a lot of rain or a large snow-melt, when it can roar.

The owners have spent the last five years thoroughly renovating the property, inside and out, and it is doubtful there is a detail not thought of ... witness the wired-to-reach-the-world boathouse that serves as an office, and the television that descends from the ceiling in the master bedroom, leaving the half wall of windows opposite the bed unobstructed. For a household with six children, the renovation is family-friendly in design and function, and sophisticated in execution.

The house has three living levels. The master suite, with its massive stone fireplace and wall of 25 built-in drawers, occupies the top level. The master bath has wide-plank wood floors and wainscot-ing on the walls and angled ceilings, with amenities plus. The deep-soaking tub, with window that overlooks the yard,

See Moon Gate page 20

An inviting, rustic kitchen shows off the charm of a guest house built above the garage.

John Queenan

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has an infinity edge that circulates an “overflow.” And set into a tiled alcove with window is a steam shower, preceded by a multihead shower in a shallow tub. If the water fills to a certain level, it begins circulating, creat-ing a waterfall in the shower.

The main level, which is entered from the back, has a mud room with cubbies and a room with a fireplace, which could be used as a bedroom with full bath, an office or den. It has French doors that open to the slate terrace that surrounds the pool. There are two more bedrooms with full baths on this level and a family room with a triangular-shaped, two-sided stone fire-place. The stonework matches the exterior walls that run throughout the property, which are said to have cost more than a million dollars.

This level also features a two-story post-and-beam living room with fireplace and the overhanging triple

Moon Gate continued from page 19

Inside or out, wherever you look, there are captivating details in this unique home.

John Queenan

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window. The Elizabethan-leaded windows, found throughout much of the home, let in abundant light.

The lower level houses the kitchen, dining room, butler’s pan-try, and another family room, which opens onto the terrace along-side the lower pond and looks into the waterfall. What is not seen from the road is a third drop in the Norwalk River, carrying it under Florida Hill Road. There is also a second bridge that crosses to a level play area and garden. At the far end are six raised beds, each tended by one of the children in the household.

The compact kitchen offers generous storage, including a panty whose door is well concealed in the wall, as is the door to a half-bath. It is designed to be crowd- friendly. The room is dominated by a large copper hood over a gas six-burner Wolf stove, which is angled to overlook the eating area as well as outside. Thus the cook can converse with others at the table while preparing meals. A large two-sided, glass-door cupboard offers easy access to glasses and dishes, and allows more light to enter the cooking area.

There is a step up to the club-like dining room, which could also be used as a library, den or playroom, and the basement is accessed through the kitchen. In addition to the mechanical sys-tems and storage areas, it contains a spacious stone-walled wine cellar.

The newest structure is the guest house, which was built in 2004 by Chris Curnan. Constructed over a garage and storage area, it has a ski-house feel with a cathedral ceiling and an end wall of windows. The main bedroom over the kitchen is loft-like, and there is second bedroom with built-in bunk beds and bath-room.

Whether as a weekend retreat or a full-time living and working environment, Moon Gate is now available for someone else to enjoy.

For more information, call Sally Hahn at William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, 203-438-9531, ext. 322, or 203-470-7685; e-mail, [email protected]. ■

The massive stone fireplace is a striking presence in the master suite.

John Queenan

A picturesque waterfall cascades alongside Moon Gate’s rock foundation.

John Queenan

2121

LOCATION: Close to town, this elegant yet casual home in Ridgefi eld is minutes from the village center.PROPERTY: A brook, pond, waterfalls, gardens, and sunset views are highlights of the scenic acre-plus setting, and a patio and deck are ideal for enjoying the tranquil atmosphere.HOUSE: A spacious house, fi lled with light that streams through the many windows offer-ing picturesque views, it is ideal for family living or entertaining. On the main level is the living room, dining room with bay window, family room with fi replace and vaulted ceiling, library/study with bay window, and kitchen with breakfast nook. The second level has a master bedroom suite and four more bedrooms, one with a full bath. On the lower level is a playroom with fi replace, full bath and sliders, and there is also an offi ce. GARAGE: Three-car attached.PRICE: $1,299,000.REALTY: William Pitt Sotheby.Agent: Roni Agress, 203-438-9531.Photography: Bryan Haeffele.

Exceptional Value

Exterior: Karen Leffl er photo

LOCATION: Close to town, this elegant yet casual home in Ridgefi eld is minutes from the village center.PROPERTY: A brook, pond, waterfalls, gardens, and sunset views are highlights of the scenic acre-plus setting, and a patio and deck are ideal for enjoying the tranquil atmosphere.HOUSE: A spacious house, fi lled with light that streams through the many windows offer-ing picturesque views, it is ideal for family living or entertaining. On the main level is the living room, dining room with bay window, family room with fi replace and vaulted ceiling, library/study with bay window, and kitchen with breakfast nook. The second level has a master bedroom suite and four more bedrooms, one with a full bath. On the lower level is a playroom with fi replace, full bath and sliders, and there is also an offi ce. GARAGE: Three-car attached.PRICE: $1,299,000.REALTY: William Pitt Sotheby.Agent: Roni Agress, 203-438-9531.Photography: Bryan Haeffele.

Exceptional Value

Exterior: Karen Leffl er photo


very hard since we were newlyweds. After I ran my cleaning business for a couple of years, I decided to switch to landscaping, since I had always loved being out-doors when I worked for my dad as part of his crew,” Freddy said.

Because of his cleaning business, Freddy had an established crew and many good sources for recommendations. “I received some good accounts back then, and my crew and I were able to get started with the maintenance of landscapes, patios and decks. I had experience and expertise, via my background with my dad, running 120 guys back in Uruguay. Once I started working with clients on maintenance, I began to offer more services as time went by. I was able to provide ease for the homeowner, since with just one phone call I could do everything for him or her, from A to Z,” Freddy said.

In the 1980s, John Miraballes arrived from Uruguay and worked with Freddy for 10 years. His father had been an inspirational role model for him ever since he was a child. “My dad really helped me get the business established. After 10 years, he went back home to Uruguay. He was a real hands-on dad, even though he worked seven days a week. If a client wanted to see him, he was always there. I never saw him miss a day of work, and I try to do the same thing,” Freddy said.

Freddy’s dad passed away four years ago, but the work ethic he taught Freddy remains with him, and he has passed it on to his two children, Nicole and Bruno.

Last year, he completed a large job on a big estate in Westport. This project required grading, patios, stone walls, and a swimming pool, along with an irriga-tion system and plantings. Freddy subcontracted the irrigation and some of the other components, but he oversaw the entire project, which began in April and finished in December.

Freddy’s Landscaping continued from page 10

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He also handled a similarly large project on six acres in New Canaan. “Monica called this property the mountain. This project required exca-vation, so we brought in the excavator under my supervision. This hom-eowner wanted to work with what he had and incorporate as much of the natural landscape and structure of the surroundings as possible. The house had an indoor swimming pool, and the homeowner asked if he could put in an outdoor pool and tennis court. I said, yes, so we blasted the whole hill. Several large trucks made 400 trips with the loads of rock we removed to a crushing plant. At the plant, I selected the best rocks to build the eight retain-ing walls required for this project. Some rocks were the size of refrigera-tors,” Freddy said.

In all, Freddy completed a tennis court, pool, fire pits around the pool, patios, the irrigation system, and all the outdoor lighting. “The house is by a small stream, and we needed to put in three retaining walls by the tennis court and five more retaining walls to hold the hill that was blasted. It was a huge job. We started in November 2006 and finished in August 2007,” he said.

Freddy does all kinds of projects, and his motto is no job is too small or too large. He does yard maintenance, walkways, small patios, outdoor fire-places or fire pits, and updates founda-tion plantings. “Lots of houses have plantings from 30 years ago, and that plant material is all deer food now. When people get tired of feeding deer, they call us to replace it with deer-resistant material,” he said.

“We also do outdoor lighting,” Freddy said. “Clients can really show off their property with outdoor light-ing. It can transform their house, whether they are entertaining outside in the spring and summer or inside in the fall and winter. Outdoor lighting looks beautiful in the snow,” Freddy said.

Freddy’s Landscaping is at 314 Wilson Avenue, Norwalk; 203-855-7854; Web site, freddyslandscape.com. ■

The natural beauty of the garden and stone patio create a restful retreat.

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flowers are yellow and can grow to four feet. They bloom in July into August, and there is no need to stake them. They don’t like to be in the noon sun, and will prove it with drooping foliage — not a pretty sight.

Last year I planted many of the new Easy Elegance roses in the different gardens we maintain. They all did really well last year, and have come through the winter with hardly any die-back. The varieties I planted were Centennial, Kiss Me, Superhero, Yellow Submarine, and Yellow Brick Road. They are own-root roses that are easy-care, with color all summer and few pests.

I’m not fond of grasses in the border, but there is one that I will make an exception for. Hakonechloa macra “Aureola” is a long-season ornamental grass that may be used as a ground cover, a border-front specimen, a mass planting, or in a patio container. It grows in partial shade and has

been named the 2009 Perennial Plant of the Year by the Perennial Plant Association.

Several of my clients have requested that we take a portion of the flower garden to plant a few vegetables this year. That’s a good idea, but if pos-sible, I think the vegetable garden should be in a separate area of the yard. A vegetable garden does look pretty, but in a different way from a flower garden. That said, I will admit, that in the case of my clients, we have the only full-sun spot that would work for vegetables, so we need to share.

This February I had a visit from a fisher. I knew there had been sightings in my neighborhood, and I thought I had seen one cross the road in the fall. But this time I had paw prints in the mud. A search on the Internet gave me the answer. What brought the visit to my attention was a six-inch round hole that had been chewed through the top of my wooden garbage con-tainer. Something had gone inside and pulled out some chicken bones to chew on. At first I thought rats, but then there in the mud was the evidence. They have five toes instead of the pads that you usually see from dogs, cats and coyotes.

Remember how much trouble I have been having with voles in my garden? Fishers eat hares, squirrels, carrion, mice, shrews, voles, birds, fruits, and ferns. They can even kill a porcupine. I guess I’m glad he is around, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions on this one.

Questions or comments: [email protected]. ■

Into the Garden continued from page 13

Stokesia laevis “Peachie’s Pick” is a long-blooming aster.

Donna C

lark photo

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See Jewelry page 34

It seems as if everywhere you look, there’s an offer to buy your unwanted jew-elry — pawn shops and jewelers, advertised “buying events,” mail-in offers — and each promises to pay top dollar! Fueled by the current state of the economy and the high price of gold, we are faced with a bewildering range of choices of where to sell jewelry. What’s best? The bottom line is, before you sell your jewelry, you should always have multiple offers, if for no other reason than your peace of mind. (Although there are several other ways to dispose of unwanted jewelry, the easiest and often most practical method is to sell it outright to a merchant.)

It’s easy enough to take your jewelry to several places to see who will give you the best deal, but a jewelry-buying event will usually be a temporary situation, where you won’t have a chance to return. Before you take advantage of a mail-in offer, you must know what price someone else will pay for your jewelry, otherwise you have no way to determine if their offer is a good one or not. Sometimes cash incentives are offered, but how much would you be willing to sacrifice in order to get cash instead of a check? 10%? 20%? Where would you draw the line?

Q: My ex-boyfriend paid almost $800 for a diamond tennis bracelet two years ago, but when I went to sell it both offers I received were so low they made me angry. Is there any place I can go to get a decent offer?

A: Probably not. Since the offers were very low, I assume the bracelet is not suit-able for resale in a store. The diamonds may be of poor quality, and not ones the buyers could re-use. The retail price paid was based on many factors: gold, dia-monds, labor, and mark-ups at both wholesale and retail levels. In all probability, the offers you received are for the gold content alone (14kt is less than 60% gold), and do not reflect the money paid for everything else, the value of which (for this purpose) is now zero.

Q: I want to try to sell a ring on eBay. How can I figure out what price to sell it for?A: You must first have some idea of the retail replacement value. Depending on

what the type of ring, the price you can expect to get is between a quarter and a

Selling your jewelry by Joe Brandt

■ THE I JEWELRY I BOX ■

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Late one night this past winter, I stumbled across yet another TV reality show ... this one addressing the issue of haunted houses. It seems that a woman in England believed her home, and, in particular, her daughter’s room, was filled with evil spirits, which made loud noises at night, moved things from place to place, and in general tried their best to drive the family from its home.

The host of the show, a self-proclaimed paranormal expert, visited the residence with his “haunted house” team, determining fairly quickly that the home was indeed haunted, and that the spirits were emanating from a dark, cavernous closet in the little girl’s bedroom. “The malevolent spirits are quite literally residing in the closet,” the expert explained, “coming out to wreak their nightly havoc on the poor family living here.”

I know just how the family feels.No, I don’t believe our house is haunted, but the practically pitch-black closet

in our master bedroom, nearly bursting with its multitude of scrunched-together clothes and mismatched hangers pointing in every direction, makes me want to run screaming from the house.

Let there be light!CUSTOMIZE YOUR CLOSETS

by G. Lisa Sullivan

Royal Closet will not only organize your space but add beauty to it as well.

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A Place For Everything ...As much as I love shopping for clothes, handbags, jewelry, and shoes, I equally

hate finding a place for them once I’m home. I try to live by the adage, “Buy one, donate one,” but it’s difficult for me to part with even one of my beloved purses, or my favorite pair of shoes from 1985, which I’m confident are just about to come back into style. However, I have so much jammed into the one space that I honestly don’t know what I own.

I have a similar problem with our kitchen cabinets. I always buy too much, and I never have enough room. I don’t mind doing the grocery shopping ... I just wish I had a little elf who would magically find a place for everything when I got home.

Fortunately, for people like me, there is a solution. Royal Closet, a 20-year-old custom-closet company in Norwalk, offers a comprehensive selection of melamine and quality stained-wood systems for closets, mudrooms, and pantries, plus entertainment centers, bookcases and garage systems, according to Adam Kores, company principal.

“We’re also doing a lot of home offices, as many people in this area are working from home,” says Adam, who launched the business initially in response to people, such as myself, who were afraid to go into their closets each morning. “I want people to begin their day with a smile, and an organized closet is the perfect starting point,” he explains. “In this troubled economy, people have become more aware of the time-saving and economical benefits of being organized.”

...And Everything In Its PlaceAdam also believes that it’s not just about organizing closets, but rather a mat-

ter of getting rid of clutter, and giving a fresh start to those who want to save time, feel better about their surroundings and make an investment in their homes. “Many of today’s homeowners are choosing to invest in their homes and make home improvements rather than trying to sell them,” Adam explains. “Once peo-ple realize that everything has its place, including clothing, they’ll feel much less stress in their lives.”

The Royal Closet design team also receives requests for more unusual projects, like craft closets with quilting storage and spaces for cake decorating or other hob-bies.

See Royal Closet page 35

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From cutting-edge solar- and geothermal-heating systems to the use of environmen-tally sensitive construction materials and techniques, it’s a bright new day in the “green building” industry.

Green building continues to gain in popularity, with more and more homeowners asking about methods and techniques to make their homes environmentally friendly while also saving on energy costs.

Realtor Bozena Jablonski of Wilton’s Country Living Associates is one of a select group of industry professionals who have received special training so they can guide their clients in the “green” arena.

Bozena received the Eco-Broker designation from the Colorado-based Association of Energy and Environmental Real Estate Professionals. She is the only certified Eco-Broker in Wilton.

“Realtors are now asked more and more about green building,” Bozena said. “We all have some general information, but with the increasing interest in this area, clients know a lot more and have some very specific and detailed questions. I heard about the Eco-Broker training, researched it, and signed up.”

Training ProgramBozena said her training covered three basic areas. “First, I learned about environ-

mental issues that can effect real estate transactions, including things like lead, mold, radon, asbestos, water quality and indoor-air quality,” she said. “We received an excel-

“Eco-Broker” goes for the greenby Jane K. Dove

■ WINDOW I ON I REAL I ESTATE ■

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lent grounding in this, and it’s now so much easier to accurately answer my client’s questions.”

The second part of the training focused on energy efficiency, including sustainable design and energy ratings. “This part was fascinating to me because I didn’t know a lot beforehand,” Bozena said. “The curriculum covered energy-efficient windows, heating, cooling, insulation and even energy-efficient appliances. We also received a thorough grounding in the different energy-rating systems.”

Bozena said most homeowners don’t know how much energy they are using — or losing — with the different energy components in their homes. “Learning how much money can be saved with energy-efficient systems turned out to be a very effective marketing tool for me,” she said. “Homes can be energy-rated and promoted as energy-efficient — a great sales tool.”

The third area involved learning how all the new knowledge acquired can be applied to her work as a Realtor. “They provided us with networks of energy specialists in our area,” she said. “In addition to all of the new things I have learned, I can now refer my clients to individuals and companies that can best serve their needs. This is a big plus,

and I feel very good about guiding my clients in the right direction when it comes to choosing builders and contractors.”

Advantages For ClientsBozena believes that “knowledge is power” and feels that her special training has

made her a better Realtor. “The more you know, the better you can serve your clients,” she said. “This special training gave me a huge amount of additional information to pass on.”

And for those not especially interested in green features, Bozena says she can usu-ally pique their interest when she points to the economic advantages of state-of-the-art building techniques. “Green features definitely add to the value of a home,” she said. “And they also increase comfort and overall quality of life for the family who lives there.”

See Window on Real Estate page 32

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Bozena said that “green” is here to stay and is not a passing fad. “More and more people on both the selling and buying end are moving quickly in this direction,” she said. “As the trend continues to grow, prices of green technology in home building are coming down.”

Bozena’s belief in green technology is validated by the many builders that now use green features to market their homes. For example, only a few years ago, geothermal-heating systems were considered an eccentric approach to energy conservation, and were few and far between. Today, more and more builders are using the systems in new custom-built and spec homes across a variety of price points.

“We are also seeing an increasing use of the new solar technology,” she said. “Builders have come a long way in this area, making the old, ugly solar panels a thing of the past.”

Using the new green technology in home building is surprisingly cost-effective. “Building a green house is maybe two percent more expensive overall than standard construction,” she said. “And you can command a higher re-sale price.”

Bozena says her clients appreciate getting accurate information about green home building. “Instead of just using popular buzz words, I can give them correct and spe-cific facts,” she said. “These days people want to know more, and it’s a good feeling to be able to answer their questions and make solid referrals.”

Although no one can accurately predict how fast and how far the new attitude to green building will spread, Bozena feels it is here to stay.

“Some areas are still uncharted territory” she says. “There is still a lot to learn, especially when it comes to integrating the many components of healthy and energy-efficient living throughout the home. But there is no doubt that green building brings added value to clients’ homes, whether new or existing. It’s a highly positive trend where everyone wins.” ■

Window on Real Estate continued from page 31

32

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NEAR & FAR HOUSE TOUROn Friday, May 1, from 10 to 4, Near & Far Aid will hold their 2009

Designer House Tour specifically to respond to the housing and family needs of many Fairfield County residents. Net proceeds from the sale of tickets will go to county agencies that serve these families.

“In these times, we feel it will be meaningful for visitors to know that by purchasing a ticket to view these spectacular homes, they will also be helping to provide housing support for a family in our community,” said Katia Mead, co-chair of the house-tour committee.

The theme of the tour is Celebration by Design, and it will feature the work of such noted designers as Eric Cohler, Mar Silver, Margaret Bondy, and Lisa Hildebrand. Exceptional homes will be decorated for special occasions and will offer innovative ideas to spark tour-goers imaginations. All homes are in Southport, Greenfield Hill and Westport.

Tickets are $60 if purchased in advance, and $75 the day of the tour. For information on purchasing tickets, visit the Near & Far Aid Web site at near-andfar.org.

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half of retail. An engagement ring containing a single diamond would probably fall toward the higher end.

Q: I had considered selling an old gold pocket watch that had belonged to my grand-father, but a jeweler I showed it to said that since it wasn’t working, he could only give me “scrap” value for the gold, which I thought was very little. The price to repair it was far more than his offer to buy it, and the price he said he might pay for it if it was in

working order is lower than the price of the repair and the price he would give me for the gold combined! What would you recommend I do?

A: I am in favor of keeping heritage jewelry, especially when it could be passed on to the next generation. I think the sentimental value of your grandfather’s watch would probably exceed the “value” as an object, so I advise you to keep the watch (and have it repaired if your finances permit) as a genuine family heirloom. The joy you will get from using it will far exceed its “weight in gold.”

Q: I brought a gold chain to a pawn shop to sell, but they told me they wouldn’t buy it because it wasn’t gold. It is stamped 10kt. Isn’t 10kt gold? What should I do?

A: What you have is most likely a fake, produced to deceive. The chain is made of yellow (or yellow-plated) metal and misleadingly stamped 10kt. Although a stamp is usually accurate, it’s not absolute proof. It’s also possible that a gold clasp had been put on a non-gold chain. If you bought it at a tag sale or received it as a gift, you’re probably out of luck. Most store receipts won’t have enough description to identify the piece, and it would be highly unusual for a chain like this to be pur-chased through a jewelry store. If you feel you have been wronged by a merchant, and they are unwilling to resolve the conflict to your satisfaction, you could call the Better Business Bureau in your area (or reach them online) and report the incident.

Joe Brandt is a local resident and owner of J.L. Brandt Company, in business since 1928. He is the author of the book Protecting the Family Jewels. [email protected] ■

Jewelry continued from page 27

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Whether preparing for school or work, a favorite item for kids — and adults — is the pull-out valet, where they can hang their clothes for the next day, accord-ing to Adam. “This enables everyone to save time by preparing for the morning the night before,” he says. “I also recommend that parents have a pull-out hamper in the closet or bathroom for their kids, which encourages them to stay organized, and teaches them to pick up after themselves at an early age.”

But where to begin? First, the Royal Closet designers visit prospective clients for a free in-home consultation. There, they determine what the clients’ organiza-tional needs are, how the space will be used, who will be using it and why. Then, back at the studio/showroom, the design experts create a plan on the computer

and then review it with the client. “The entire process, from start to finish, can be completed within a couple of weeks,” Adam explains.

Closets, pantries and other spaces can be as fully customized as desired, with clients choosing to include coffeemakers and small refrigerators in their bedroom closets, for example. “Sometimes, people just want the convenience of appliances in their closets,” Adam says, “whether it’s for storing medications that must be refrigerated and taken in the morning or evening, or having a cold drink or hot cup of coffee at hand.”

For further information, call 203-847-4179. ■

Royal Closet continued from page 29

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Fairfield County’s Trees

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I have a confession to make ... I love the look and feel of a lush green lawn. It reminds me of lazy summer days as a child when my brother and I would spend hours outside playing on our lawn. We’d gather dandelion bouquets for our mom, search for four-leaf clovers or play kickball with the neighbors. We didn’t think about all the resources that went into keeping our lawn a beautiful emerald green. We just loved running around barefoot on the grass.

But times are changing and now we realize how demanding our lawns can be. To look its best, a lawn needs constant attention — watering, reseeding, fertilizing, regular mowing, and on and on. Admit it, if your lawn were a new friend, you’d drop her in a heartbeat because she’s just too high maintenance.

Now, I’m not advocating getting rid of your entire lawn — remember I am a “lawn lover” — but most of us could shrink the area we have devoted to just grass without suffering any traumatic or lasting effect. The easiest way to shrink your lawn is to widen your existing borders a few feet. You’d be amazed how quickly some low-growing plants and a little extra mulch will give your garden a facelift.

Another way to shrink your lawn is to transform an unsightly or unused patch of grass into a real asset. We all have an area where grass just doesn’t seem to grow, or

WHEN SHRINKAGE’S A+

Less lawn, more leisureby Deborah Roberts

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See Lawn page 40

if it does grow, it’s hard to maintain. Maybe it’s a shady area under a tree, a sunny strip near the driveway or that hidden corner of your yard that no one seems to use.

The perfect candidate for a lawn reduction has been right before my eyes since I moved into my home many years ago. On the north side, there is a narrow strip of land between the house and a shaded woodland border. Even though it’s less than 800 square feet, it features areas that are either primarily moss, dirt or grass and weeds (OK, mostly weeds!). It’s screaming out for an act of kindness that will restore some of its lost dignity and beauty. Maybe I’m being a bit melodramatic, but it needs some serious help.

Every year my husband and I work on one major project in our garden. This year we have decided to shrink our lawn and plant a lawn alternative in its place. (A lawn alternative is a low-maintenance plant that is grown instead of grass.) The first step is to kill what little grass is still growing there. To do that, we’ll cover the entire area with sheets of newspaper — about 10 pages thick to smother the grass — and cover the newspaper with mulch. This works surprisingly well, but should be done several weeks before planting anything new. When you’re ready to plant, simply

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Ray seems to know the growing history of each plant, the way parents keep track of their children’s height and weight. One genus feels like leather, another is soft and squishy. During a holiday season like Christmas, the cacti in the Moskows’ home will be decorated like Christmas trees, with little ornaments that have been gathered through the years. The little snowmen and stars give even the most fierce-looking plants a merry look.

Ray has become a kind of Dr. Cactus to many neighbors who call him for advice about fading, stunted or sick cacti. He doesn’t encour-age this, but even Young’s Nursery once called on him for some advice. He recommends clay,

not plastic pots, though clay pots have become so expensive he’s settling for more plastic. Plastic retains water, it doesn’t breathe as clay does, so the soil can become too soggy.

A visit to his cacti garden (and a gift of two plants) transformed me from a disinterested observer into a challenged cactus cultivator. Though they have no scent, they defy touching and they make no demands whatsoever, they’re definitely alive and, I suppose, if I measure them next year, they may have actually grown a half inch. But they’ve ceased to be ominous. They’re so placid, they’ve become like obedient pets.

Ray could easily fill every inch of his home with plants. But that’s not exactly practical. Where would people sit? There are no cacti in his den/study/office. “You know,” he says,” I have to get a rest from them once in awhile.” ■

Cactus continued from page 7

Ray M

oskow

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move the mulch aside, put in your lawn-alternative plants and spread the mulch around the new plants. It’s a foolproof way to get rid of the grass and make a new planting area all at once.

We’ll also add a utility pathway since once in a while we do use the area to get around the yard. A utility pathway can be constructed of a less formal material than a primary walkway. I’ve decided to use gravel for several reasons — installation is easy for a DIY project, it’s inexpensive and it’s permeable, which reduces storm run-off and helps to replenish groundwater.

Next I can focus on what to plant alongside the path. I want something that is drought-tolerant, low-growing, deer-resistant, evergreen (although that’s not a deal breaker), and it has to thrive in partial sun. I also want it to tolerate some foot traf-fic because I would like the area to still have the feel and function of a lawn, and I don’t want to worry about stray foot traffic maiming precious plants. Oh, I almost forgot to add this, but once it’s established, it needs to be low maintenance. There’s no sense swapping a high-maintenance lawn for a high- maintenance lawn alterna-tive.

I have decided not to use any of the usual groundcover suspects, namely English ivy, Japanese spurge or periwinkle. While they would be fine choices, I want some-thing a bit more unexpected. After some research, I found several worthy candi-dates. There’s Barren Strawberry (Waldsteinia ternata), Brass Buttons (Leptinella squalida) or Carpet Bugle (Ajuga reptans). If your makeover candidate is located in a full sun area, you might consider Creeping Wire Vine (Muehlenbeckia axillaries), Creeping Thyme (Thymus serpyllum) or Creeping Mini Speedwell (Veronica olten-sis).

Maybe you’d rather have your lawn reduction look more like a garden when it’s finished. In that case, plant some long blooming perennials like Daylily (Hemerocallis), Hummingbird Mint (Agastache) or Meadow Sage (Salvia nem-erosa). Or you can use plants with interesting foliage. You can’t go wrong with

Lawn continued from page 37

40

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Bugbane (Actaea), Coral Bells (Heuchera) or Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra).

No matter what look you ultimately choose, take the first step and commit to shrinking your lawn. You won’t be sorry, because without so much high- mainte-nance lawn to care for, you will enjoy your garden even more.

Deborah Roberts is a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and is the owner of Roberts & Roberts, a landscape and garden-design company in Stamford. Her blog site, gardenofpossibilities.com, offers a forum on gardening and landscape-design. For questions or comments: 203-979-3672, [email protected]. ■

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Nothing quite complements a space like a beauti-ful arrangement of flowers. A lush grouping can turn an uninviting space into a feast for the eyes. It’s a lovely way to add a finishing touch to any room.

Bea Schriver has been a floral designer in the Fairfield County area for 20 years. Having worked for so long with fresh flowers, it was time for a change, and she’s now focused her extensive experi-ence on creating luscious bouquets of high-quality silk flowers.

Walking into her studio in Wilton is like entering a Garden of Eden, where every type of flower seems to be available, waiting for her creative touch to turn them into a magnificent display. After you’ve spent some time with this lovely, energetic woman, her pas-sion for what she does becomes infectious. You want to turn her loose in your own home to fashion some-thing for every room.

On April 2, 3 and 4, Bea Schriver will be hosting a Spring Open House from 10 to 5, or by appoint-ment, at her studio at 10 Fox Run in Wilton. It’s a wonderful opportunity to come in, meet Bea, see her designs, and buy something beautiful to enhance your home, for your own pleasure and that of your guests.

“I think it’s a great way to bring color, texture and beauty into your home without the upkeep,” Bea said, perched on a stool by one of the large worktables in her spacious studio. “You don’t have to water them or change the container. You don’t have to pick up after they drop on the table. It’s a beautiful thing. They look so lifelike, you really can’t tell the difference.

“One day it dawned on me that I love flowers,” she said. “I’d worked in the corporate world but it wasn’t satisfying. And then I realized, this is what I should be doing, working with something I love ... something I enjoy. I was always creative, even when I was little. I loved decorating my room and I love color ... using color in different ways. So I took a job at a flower shop in Wilton, which led me to begin designing for weddings. I started out small, but over the years I wanted to do more. It was then I began to do high-end weddings, with big flowers and expansive centerpieces.”

After being highly sought-after for 20 years, Bea turned her sights to silk flowers. “Silk flowers are very cost-effective,” she explained, “for you’re getting the beauty of flowers in your home at a very reasonable price. If you were to pay for a large arrangement each week, or even a small one for that matter, it would

cost thousands of dollars a year. These silk beauties will last five to 10 years.

“I’m very fussy about the quality I use,” she said. “I go directly to the distributors in New York City where I can hand pick each flower. Because I worked for so long with the real thing, I know exactly what they look like. I know the subtle differ-ences. That’s a really big advantage. I’m also picky about the containers I use. It’s all about meshing these two together in order to get the desired result.”

There are a number of ways Bea works. You can visit her studio by appointment and receive a free consultation, or, for a fee, she will come to your home, look at the space and consult with the owner or an interior designer. The consultation fee for a home call is applied to any purchase made. Then it’s on to the fun part.

Say it with silkSCHRIVER FLORALS OPEN HOUSE

by Priscilla Whitley

Silk flowers bring color, texture and beauty into a home without the upkeep.

An arrangement begins with color, followed by textures and shapes.

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“I start out with the color ... it’s all about the color,” she said. “Then I go into the different textures and shapes to make up an arrangement. That’s my job ... color and texture.”

Through the years, Bea has done weddings and holiday celebrations as well. She will also decorate a home by the season, such as flowers with fresh pastel colors for spring and ones with deeper tones for fall. With the coming of each season, a home can change its look without great expense.

“There are so many overlooked places where an arrangement can offer that extra special touch,” she said. “I love putting a grouping on top of an armoire, within a cabi-net, on the dining room table, and, of course, the foyer, such an important place as you enter the home.”

Incorporating not only flowers but life-like fruit, trees and topiaries, each design is customized for its particular spot. Wreathes for all seasons may accent a door or a wall, and will last for years.

Silk flowers make great sense for a business as well. With so many companies pur-chasing fresh flowers for their lobby or waiting room, now is the time for a silk arrange-ment. This allows a business to still appear welcoming to clients, but at a reduced cost.

Bea Schriver Florals also offers rentals, which are becoming quite popular for wed-dings, parties and businesses. The cost of fresh flowers may keep people from going all

out for that sensational look, if only for one day. Rental arrangements provide a great alternative.

Whether it’s at the Spring Open House or by appointment, meeting with Bea will open up a new dimension in decorating. “I love people coming into my studio,” she said. “They get to see how I work, see the flowers, and it offers so many ideas for both of us. I love what I do. It’s so much fun. I get to go into beautiful homes and work with wonderful people. How lucky am I?”

For more information, call Bea Schriver Florals at 203-834-9515; e-mail [email protected]; Web site, beaschriverflorals.com. ■

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