Hunnewell Arboretum

The H. H. Hunnewell estate in Wellesley, Massachusetts was the country home of H. H. Hunnewell (1810-1902), containing over 500 species of woody plants in 53 families. The estate remains in the family, and includes the first (1854) topiary garden in the United States, featuring intricate geometrically clipped native Eastern white pine and Eastern arborvitae. A collection of specialty greenhouses feature over 1,000 plant species. The estate has been cared for by six generations of the Hunnewell family.

The property is located in the Hunnewell Estates Historic District, on Washington Street in southwest Wellesley, near Boston, Massachusetts.

About 1843, H. H. Hunnewell began designing the landscape for his new estate in Wellesley. Mr. Hunnewell took great interest in planting species of evergreens from around the world that had not previously been available in the United States, and from other regions of the country not tested in New England. By 1847 he had over 2,000 trees of over two dozen genera imported from England planted on the grounds. The Italianate residence, designed by Arthur Gilman, was built later in 1851.

The Hunnewell rhododendrons may be the oldest cultivated specimens in the United States, as H. H. Hunnewell started importing and planting them in the 1850s and 1860s on the grounds. Some of these original plants are likely still alive. He staged the first exhibit of large rhododendrons in the U.S., on Boston Common in 1873, which helped to make them popular in American cultivation for gardens and parks.

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