ABCD o o o HOME 5.11.2005 Garden Section G couple constructs a simple, easy-to-maintain landscape for their home in Italy Gardening alla Italiana By Evanne Diner a year, employing a village resi- Special to dent to come by to water. The Chronicle When we first bought the prop- erty, our side yard was framed in hat strikes peo- grapevines and included two huge ple most about fig trees, two sour-cherry trees, our garden is its two pear trees, three loquat trees simplicity. Al- and one persimmon tree. It was though the de- overgrown with grass and weeds, Wsign is clearly Italian, it could be and outside the tiny one-room transported to almost any corner garden cottage stood two rusty of the world. barrels collecting rainwater and Close your eyes and imagine mosquitoes. that you are in Italy. What will you Sarah Hammond, a California see? Cypress trees, stone statues, landscape designer, worked with gravel, boxwood, roses and olive us to plan and execute the design. trees? These are all items that you But it has been up to us to main- can find at your local nursery and tain and augment the garden. garden supply yard. Sarah became our mentor, We can speak from almost teacher and close friend. She rec- eight years’ experience that the ommended that we clean up all Italian garden we envisioned and the weeds, get rid of the barrels, installed remains easy to main- turn over the soil and plant a field tain, despite the fact that we have of English lavender (Lavendula lived on the edge of the village of angustifolia) in one large open Mugnano in Teverina in Lazio, an area, with gravel paths to delin- hour north of Rome, for only a lit- eate walks, edged in old tufa tle more than two years. We pur- stones found on the property. chased our property at the end of When we were designing our 1997. For the next five years, we garden, we told Sarah that, for the came here only three or four times foreseeable future, we would be 1 ITALY: Page G6

Lavender plants are clipped back into round balls after they Roy and Evanne Diner / Special to The Chronicle bloom so they look well groomed throughout the winter. Boxwood defines a lounge area under an olive tree on the terrace, while cypresses add privacy and visual interest.

An old dowry gives on

Auction in England It was Sharon’s great grandson, Lord Alexander Hesketh, a British revives the story politician and Grand Prix racing sponsor, who decided last year to of Sharon heiress sell the country mansion and its 3,300 acres, village and racecourse. By Susan Fornoff The place had become a money pit, Chronicle Staff Writer he announced, that was sucking be- tween 500,000 and 1.5 million an Francisco heiress Florence Sotheby’s London pounds (in dollars, about $950,000- Emily Sharon reversed the A set of three centerpiece bowls from Shreve & Co. is valued at $2.85 million) from the family for- Sfortunes of a family of English more than $4,700 in the catalog for the Easton Neston auction. tune every year. nobles with her $2 million dowry But the original asking price of 125 years ago, and apparently she’s $95 million found no takers, so the not done yet. Sotheby’s London specialist in house’s two-volume sale catalog. house was repackaged with 500 Next week, Sotheby’s expects charge of this sale, attributes to the “She had a very, very keen eye for acres at $43 million (several offers the contents of the 300-year-old daughter of California’s wealthiest luxury, and so the wardrobes or reportedly are under consider- Easton Neston estate in Northamp- man of the day, , beds or so on tend to be of the best ation), and the rest of the estate was tonshire, England, to bring $5 mil- who had made his fortune in min- variety and stood the test of time. parceled out. lion to $10 million at a three-day ing stocks and real estate and co- “And the cash that she had In December, Sotheby’s got the auction that includes many silver founded the Bank of California . meant the family, her sons, could call to auction about a quarter of pieces from Shreve and Co. of San “She had definite ideas of what continue to buy works of art right the estate’s contents. That’s when Francisco, turn-of-the-century an English house should look like, up until the second world war. Miller began exploring the San photographs of the city’s Palace and she encouraged her husband to “Another minor, but important, Francisco-Northamptonshire con- Hotel and architectural renderings go out and acquire works of art that legacy was that as the Sharon fami- nection. of Sharon Heights. she thought were right for the ly started to peter out in America, “I do one of these every year or Even more important — valu- house,” says Miller, who research- works of art came to England two for Sotheby’s, but this may be Sotheby’s London able, too — is a collection of art and ed five centuries of Fermor-Hes- through her from New York and the one with the most interesting Florence Emily Sharon was Lady Fermor-Hesketh when Emile furniture that James Miller, the keth family history for the auction San Francisco.” 1 AUCTION: Page G6 Charles Wauters painted this portrait, valued at more than $7,500. G6 ABCD o o o WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2005 Cypresses, boxwood frame Italian idyll 1 ITALY be an excellent idea. The initial From Page G1 expense was worth the hours saved during hot months, when able to visit the house only four we could sit and enjoy the garden. times a year. We needed to find a Today, our work on the gravel way for the property to look beau- paths is minimal. We extended tiful in our absence. Using gravel our front terrace and added a to minimize upkeep was an ideal parking area and a gate with the solution. The whole front terrace purchase of a small adjacent piece is covered with gravel, with about of land, formerly an abandoned 60 round globes of boxwood fram- garden. Large planters, called fio- ing the perimeter. rieras, crafted from tufa hold rose- Sarah guided us to use small- mary and white roses that cascade size gravel, with an undercoat of over the tufa walls of our parking nursery cloth, to keep the weeds at area. bay. I asked that the gravel be a You can find beautiful stone warm, pale beige. On a previous flower boxes locally that can be trip to Italy we scoured all the placed either on the ground or on gravel yards in Lazio, as well as the stone walls for added visual inter- neighboring region, Umbria, for est. We added new gravel and box- just the right color. wood, which will take two more In Italy, local stone is used for years to reach the size of the exist- all types of construction. Here on ing plants. Then we will clip each the Lazio-Umbria border, the lo- plant several times a year to main- cal gravel is gray, and the local tain its ideal size and shape. stone, tufa, is quite soft. It was We added a gravel path to the formed thousands of years ago by second adjacent piece of land that volcanic eruptions. Sarah at first extends to San Rocco, a 16th cen- thought pale beige gravel might tury deconsecrated church, laying be too bright under the blazing abandoned in our view. Now the summer sun. She arrived a few lavender grows on both sides of months later with a few protegees the path. When it is harvested to check out the quarry 20 min- each June, we give it to the people utes from our property. of the village in thanks for making To use gravel, paths are first us feel so welcome. laid with nursery cloth, followed From lavender, you can make by a thin layer of gravel. If you wands, wreaths, eye pillows, sa- sprinkle the gravel you don’t use chets, soaps or fragrant oils or fill as borders around potted plants, baskets with lavender and place you will see that the result is so Roy and Evanne Diner / Special to The Chronicle them around the house for a fra- spectacular that you will want to The dining terrace in the Diners’ garden, above, shows the grance. You can grill lavender add new paths in other areas. extensive use of gravel that minimizes upkeep and suppresses chicken. We have even heard of Think of adding a bench, a stat- weeds. The sun sets, left, above the beds of lavender. The lavender lavender ice cream. ue or a special pot at the end of will be harvested and given to residents of the nearby village. So take out those dream books each path for visual interest. We of Italy, and just imagine yourself have added benches or pots at the here. It will be easier than you end of several paths. and replace it. Just remember that to grow before our eyes. We think. And perhaps that wild En- A 14-inch-diameter catapult you must take out all the soil un- learned to plant them in odd- glish garden that takes you so long ball that is several hundred years der and around the old rose if numbered multiples for luck, and to maintain can be edited with old is at the top of each side of our planting another rose in its place. three of them were positioned to nursery cloth and gravel and box- front steps. I imagined a boxwood We have almost 50 roses. Some of hide an unsightly shack in the val- wood and cypress trees, giving you mirroring the size and the shape them are the same roses as Sarah ley below. plenty of time to sit and dream. Or of these balls. Boxwood grows planted. Many are new choices. The lavender was planted in six come to Italy for a visit, knowing slowly, and can be clipped as sel- The choice of the basic ele- rows of eight, 30 inches apart. We that your Italian garden will look dom as several times a year. As it ments to use in our garden has were instructed to be sure to clip as fresh when you return as it did grows, it can be shaped into a ball. been lucky. We arrived with each each lavender plant back to a when you left. Buy boxwood and slowly clip away season, and although we had plen- round orb after it had fully blos- at its angles and you will find that ty of work to do, the garden was somed. In this manner, the plants Evanne Diner and her husband, as it grows, your clipping will re- manageable. What we knew as remained beautiful all year. Roy, live in Italy with their dog, sult in just the right shape. Or Bermuda grass poked up in spots As your garden matures, you Sofi. When not out in the garden keep them angular. We use Felco through the nursery cloth but on- will have new ideas and additions or writing, Evanne helps Roy No. 6 shears, and I find the clip- also recommended a selection of Visit your local nursery to pur- ly after the spring and summer to your initial design. That doesn’t with their business, L’Avventura ping to be relaxing, doing only a roses. Cypress trees take little or chase roses and ask for advice on rains. Most of the weeds were have to mean that you will add Project Management. Learn few at a time. no care once they are acclimated, planting roses that please you. from airborne seeds, and easy to more work to maintain it. We add- more about them and read We also added five tall cypress- and olive trees remain beautiful And if you don’t have luck the first pull up. ed a complete irrigation system Evanne’s journal on their Web es and one large olive tree. Sarah all year long. time you plant a rose, take it out The five cypress trees seemed two years ago, and it has proved to site, www.lavventura.net. Pieces of historic dowry go on sale

1 AUCTION From Page G1 Going once family history,” he says. “Most of Easton Neston, built by them have a straightforward rise.” Nicholas Hawksmoor in around 1700 in North- Not so for the Fermor-Hesketh amptonshire, England, will family. In fact, Miller discovered open to the public for the that the 2nd Earl of Pomfret had first time for viewing Friday frittered away much of the family’s through Monday; the three- fortune and begun selling off im- day auction of more than portant sculptures before he died in 1,500 lots of furniture, art, 1867. silver and other antiques The property then passed to Sir begins on Tuesday. The full Thomas George Fermor-Hesketh, catalog is online at who decided he had inherited www.sothebys.com, and enough of “the needful” (this was interested parties can call apparently the noble code for the firm’s San Francisco “cash”) to commission a large, fast office for more information, Photos courtesty of Sotheby’s London yacht that could take him and his (415) 772-9028. Bruce Price’s 1889 rendering of Sharon Heights is valued at more than $3,700. The current Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club friends around the world. clubhouse was based in part on a photograph of his design, according to BAR Architects project manager Jeff Goodwin. They boarded the Lancashire Witch and made their way to Japan, Here’s one of the journal entries: then zipped over to San Francisco, “I must say American girls are very where Sir Thomas heard that a ship pretty, dress well, have good feet, registered in Tahiti with Americans lots of fun & very sharp. Some have aboard had gone missing in Mexi- lots of money.” co. And another: “To my astonish- Sir Thomas sent the yacht and a ment Hesketh has been making few of his shipmates over to search love to Miss Sharon, a most charm- for the missing, but had the good ing girl, daughter of Senator Shar- sense to stay in San Francisco and on. The engagement was an- party. nounced in the Chronicle & News- “I was lucky enough to find a letter.” journal of this journey of 1879-1880, No need to call Sir Thomas a cad, which was a pivotal moment in the however. family history,” Miller says. “It was “It’s quite clear the girls knew written by someone aboard his ship, what they were up to,” Miller says. William Sharon’s last opium pipe, above, is among the 1,500 lots of auction items to obviously a great friend, and it “They knew they had this cash, go on the market Tuesday. It is one of the more affordable items listed in the makes it quite clear that they were which would allow them to become Sotheby’s catalog, minimum value $190. At left is a framed, tinted photograph of all aware of the, er, potential pros- objects of interest. Also, it was a pass- Lady Fermor-Hesketh with her two sons, Thomas, and baby Frederick, circa 1890, pects America had to offer. So when port to Europe, to a certain degree which is also to be auctioned they were in San Francisco, they of freedom and what they saw as a knew there were pretty American more sophisticated environment. girls who had ‘the needful.’ ” So they traded money for access to Francisco, saying how disgraceful it There are also many pieces of silver of, because after the birth of their Furthering the cause was the The city toasted Sir Thomas for what they saw as the cream of world is that this money should leech out in mint condition — unused wed- two sons Flora eventually began to marriage of Flora’s son Thomas to his heroic, though reportedly futile, society.” of the country,” Miller says. ding presents from fine American spend more time in London until another American heiress, Flor- rescue gesture, making him a mem- So Sharon — known here mostly The new lady of the manor purveyors such as Tiffany and she died in 1924. ence Louise Witherspoon Breckin- ber of the San Francisco yacht club as “Flora,” there as “Florence” or quickly set out to spend some of that Shreve — and a striking portrait of “She seems to have had a lover ridge. The union kept the Fermor- and honoring him with a scroll “Emily” — traded her cash for Sir money when she found things not the lady of the house by Emile who was an admiral at some point,” Heskeths in silver, at least until next from the Board of Trade, Miller Thomas’ cachet, and they were entirely to her liking. She had Charles Wauters. Miller says. “She converted her week. says. married at Ralston Hall (known as hoped for a “rambling, medieval” “She’s got great style, doesn’t house in London to have the sash Flora’s branch of the Sharons Society also feted him at parties Belmont at the time) on Dec. 23, home, Miller reports, and had to she?” says Miller, chuckling at the windows bricked up and put portals does not appear to have any heirs from San Francisco’s Palace Hotel 1880. work to instill those qualities in in-charge, elegantly clad image of in to make him comfortable.” left in the Bay Area, at least accord- to Belmont’s Ralston Hall. By 1880, When the new Lady Fermor- Nicholas Hawksmoor’s graceful Lady Fermor-Hesketh. “She was ap- The admiral’s comfort came at ing to an online family history, and the former senator Sharon Hesketh boarded The Lancashire Baroque masterpiece of architec- parently very outspoken, too — you no expense to Easton Neston, an official said there seems to be no owned both, due to the suicide of Witch, $2 million and a few hun- ture. know, talked straight, where En- which continued to be maintained interest in the goods at Ralston Hall his business partner, William Ral- dred words of outrage accompa- Hawksmoor’s painted oak mod- glish girls didn’t, particularly. by a steady flow of American dollars — still a fine place for a wedding. ston, and had such a massive empire nied her. el of the house is listed among the That’s a nice American characteris- from San Francisco — interrupted, that he paid more taxes than any in- “There were lots of newspaper more precious pieces at auction, tic.” Miller says, only in 1906 by the great E-mail Susan Fornoff at dividual in California. reports, general comments in San valued at more than $150,000. One perhaps Sir Thomas tired earthquake. [email protected].