Villa Philbrook Gardens

The grounds at the Philbrook occupy 23 acres just outside of downtown tulsa.  S. Herbert Hare was selected as the landscape architect.  He worked with the architect of the home to create formal and informal gardens that were spectacular whether viewed from outside or from inside the house looking out.

 The east gardens are more formal in nature and feature a series of diagonal paths that cross a central water feature as it steps down the hillside.  Off in the distance the Tempietto or small temple can be seen.  This view is framed on each side by a pair of twisted stone columns.

 There is a lily pond with koi in it.  I like how you can see the reflection of the structure in the water.

There is Cole - posing in front of a Christmas tree in the .  The landscape architect changed the flow of the creek that passes through the grounds.  Here is an aerial photo of the grounds from A fellow blogger here in Tulsa, Bill Miller with some more pictures of the garden.   Bill has featured the Villa on his blog several times.  Click here to access it.

The winding creek is lined on both sides by cut stone after a multi million dollar restoration a few years ago.  The grounds currently feature large scale modern art.

 The sheep are actually sculpture that my son got a kick out of !

 There is another formal garden to the South - it leads down to a loggia.    This is the view from the sun room inside the house.

I posted some photos of the interior here..

I posted some historic photos here..