Did you know that the Carmichael House in the movie Sweet Home Alabama was actually the Martha Berry house Oak Hill? The house is located in Rome Georgia.
I visited there today with Gay, Stephanie and Barb. We had a great time with our tour guide Crystal Linsenbigler who did a fantastic job!
Oak Hill Gardens seem straight out of the old movies. Robert Cridland designed the gardens. He is also credited with other projects like the Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt rose garden at Hyde Park and the Cator Woolford gardens in Atlanta as well as Avondale Estates.
The Martha Berry estate consists of a sunken garden, goldfish garden, sundial garden, and formal garden. It also has a Bridal Walk where after a couple gets engaged they walk amongst the rose arbors to make their first wish as a couple.
In the 1930’s the Emperor of Japan gave Martha Berry Kwanzan cherry trees which now grace the sunken garden. Just look how large the trunks are!
After Martha died in 1942 and time wore on the gardens fell into disrepair.
In 2012 a box filled with the original landscape designs from Robert Cridland were found and work began to renovate and landscape the property to its original glory. The goal is to restore the gardens to their 1935 appearance.
Today the gardens are maintained by staff with assistance from Berry College students.
Martha McChesney Berry was born in 1865 and grew up with five sisters, two brothers, and three Berry cousins, whose parents were deceased. Being a devout Episcopalian, she started teaching Sunday school lessons to poor children in the area from her cabin office.
Inspired by the desire to help the poor “mountain” children of landowners and tenants, she then started a school for boys called “Boys’ Industrial School” in 1902. Inspired by a challenge from Theodore Roosevelt, she also started a school for girls in 1909.
In 1926, she established Berry Junior College, which in 1930 expanded into a four-year school. The Martha Berry School for Girls closed in 1956. The boys’ high school was renamed Mount Berry School for Boys, and in 1962 it became Berry Academy, which was closed in 1983 when Berry College incorporated.
Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie and Thomas Edison were among Berry’s largest donors toward the growth of her school.
Martha asked Henry Ford to donate to her school. He was so tired of people asking him for donations that he handed her 10 cents. So she wrote him a thank you note for the money. Then she took the 10 cents and she and her students planted then re-planted peanuts. Martha sold the crops for $600. She then wrote to Mr. Ford telling him what she had done with the dime and thanked him for his generous donation of $600. He was so impressed with what she had done that he ended up being one of the schools most generous benefactors. Funding a complex of buildings that became the girls school, donating tractors for the farm and cars for the academy.
The house and gardens are something to see. I would recommend the trip.You can get the location and hours of operation from the link below. And while your there tool around Berry campus. It's a beautiful facility where the deer outnumber the students 4-1!
http://www.berry.edu/oakhill/gardens/
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| Photo Credit: Southernweddings.com |
I visited there today with Gay, Stephanie and Barb. We had a great time with our tour guide Crystal Linsenbigler who did a fantastic job!
 |
| Photo Credit: Crystal Linsenbigler |
Oak Hill Gardens seem straight out of the old movies. Robert Cridland designed the gardens. He is also credited with other projects like the Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt rose garden at Hyde Park and the Cator Woolford gardens in Atlanta as well as Avondale Estates.
The Martha Berry estate consists of a sunken garden, goldfish garden, sundial garden, and formal garden. It also has a Bridal Walk where after a couple gets engaged they walk amongst the rose arbors to make their first wish as a couple.
 |
| Photo Credit: CK Worley |
 |
| Photo Credit: CK Worley |
After Martha died in 1942 and time wore on the gardens fell into disrepair.
In 2012 a box filled with the original landscape designs from Robert Cridland were found and work began to renovate and landscape the property to its original glory. The goal is to restore the gardens to their 1935 appearance.
Today the gardens are maintained by staff with assistance from Berry College students.
Martha McChesney Berry was born in 1865 and grew up with five sisters, two brothers, and three Berry cousins, whose parents were deceased. Being a devout Episcopalian, she started teaching Sunday school lessons to poor children in the area from her cabin office.
 |
| Photo Credit: Berry College |
In 1926, she established Berry Junior College, which in 1930 expanded into a four-year school. The Martha Berry School for Girls closed in 1956. The boys’ high school was renamed Mount Berry School for Boys, and in 1962 it became Berry Academy, which was closed in 1983 when Berry College incorporated.
Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie and Thomas Edison were among Berry’s largest donors toward the growth of her school.
Martha asked Henry Ford to donate to her school. He was so tired of people asking him for donations that he handed her 10 cents. So she wrote him a thank you note for the money. Then she took the 10 cents and she and her students planted then re-planted peanuts. Martha sold the crops for $600. She then wrote to Mr. Ford telling him what she had done with the dime and thanked him for his generous donation of $600. He was so impressed with what she had done that he ended up being one of the schools most generous benefactors. Funding a complex of buildings that became the girls school, donating tractors for the farm and cars for the academy.
The house and gardens are something to see. I would recommend the trip.You can get the location and hours of operation from the link below. And while your there tool around Berry campus. It's a beautiful facility where the deer outnumber the students 4-1!
http://www.berry.edu/oakhill/gardens/
If you ever wonder what one person can do, Martha Berry's life is a wonderful example to learn from. Years after her death she is still changing many lives for the better. |
Looks like a great outing! In the meantime, I am in the yard pulling poison ivy....
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