Historical Timeline

1760: The original saltbox farmhouse is constructed and named after the builder, Samuel Hollister

1978: George Schoellkopf, a collector and dealer of 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-Century American decorative and folk art, buys the 27-acre property. He begins to restore the house in authentic and elegant 18th-Century style and to create a garden and landscape that establish a basic sense of formality yet stays true to the New England countryside

2004: Working with the Garden Conservancy, the owner and a group of citizens form Hollister House Garden, Inc., a nonprofit organization that will eventually assume stewardship of the property

2005: George Schoellkopf formally pledges the gift of the house, garden, and 27 acres to Hollister House Garden, Inc. and commits to creating an endowment fund, with a minimum of $2 million to go toward maintaining the property in perpetuity

2006: Tessa Izenour, a Marco Polo Stufano Garden Conservancy Fellow, helps open up new garden areas and creates a comprehensive database of garden plants

2008: The first Hollister House Study Weekend, Transatlantic Connections: Creating a Personal Garden Style, is co-sponsored with the Garden Conservancy

2009: Dig It! Magazine describes Hollister House Garden as having "constant, yet soothing, views of texture and shapes, of colors that mingle and flavor the air. It is arresting arrangements and paths that change immediately, yet unhurriedly, from one step to the next. It is slight elevation that presents elegance spread out before you. Close up views are of sculpted, tamed plants, plants gone wild, plants that form melding, lazy relationships – one up against the other like kids playfully rubbing shoulders, plants I’ve never seen before. It is green grass used perfectly. It is sharing, co-habitation, stateliness, royalty, and detail – and definitely romance and history. It is a garden of genius."

2010: The Martha Stewart Show (May 18) features a visit to Hollister House Garden, including an interview with George Schoellkopf