The Gardens
At the heart of Beanacre Farm, the gardens combine painstaking design with layered, seasonal interest, reflecting the care and imagination poured into every acre of the property.
The grounds offer structured borders, verdant plantings and a visual rhythm that translates handsomely on camera.
Changing with the seasons, the gardens provide dynamic backdrops for photography and film, favored by photographers Stacy Bass, Alice Gao, Harrison Gordon and Sydney Sheehan.
The gardens have been featured in local (CT Cottages & Gardens, Westport, athome) and national magazines (Garden Design, House Beautiful, Flower) and on PBS TV (The Victory Garden).
Every visit renders new compositional opportunities, inviting your work to become part of the story.
The West Garden
Features: Lush annuals and perennials of varying heights and color add texture and vitality to the west garden, blended with architectural elements - obelisks, arches and tuteurs to support climbing roses and clematis. Urns, arbors and sculpted boxwood globes act as punctuation marks creating textures, heights and a visual rhythm ideal for still or motion capture.
Featuring an axis of nine lateral borders, this garden also offers a “green headboard” of structural woody plants at its west end acting as a focal point.
Square Footage: 43,560 square feet /one acre
Natural Light:Continuous. Front light at sunrise. Backlight at sunset. Clear unobstructed light all day.
The Rose Garden
Features: Defined by structure and symmetry, the rose garden features an entry arbor draped in climbing roses, tall privet hedges that encompass the space and columnar tuteurs supporting climbing roses and clematis.
At its center, a stone orb fountain anchors the garden while a “living bench” of boxwood adds another focal point and secondary point of interest. Unlike most rose gardens, this one is rich with companion plants — lilies, hydrangea, catmint, lambs ear, foxglove and lupin — to hide the ugly ankles of the roses and add yet another layer of color, texture and interest, extending the bloom life of the garden.
Square Footage: 17,400 square feet
Natural Light: Best in early morning light (sunrise).
The Orchard
Features: Features: Mature chestnut and apple trees dot a pastoral grove on a bed of lush grass and unobstructed sight lines that create expansive, cinematic compositions. The woodshed’s stacked logs and the bark textures of the chestnut and apple trees are favored backdrops among fashion photographers. Rusted metal barbed wire orbs of varying sizes scattered around informally add interest especially in winter months.
The orchard’s openness makes it ideal for both still photography and film, offering visual depth and seasonal versatility.
Square Footage: 43,560 square feet /one acre
Natural Light: Due to the abundance of trees, shadows are a given. Early morning light produces spots and shadows. Afternoon light is better. Backlighting through leaf cover is ideal throughout the day. Sunset light is soft but limited.
The Fenced Garden
Features: At the back of the property sits a gravel garden with raised flower beds containing thousands of very tall false sunflowers, accented by a lively assortment of hydrangea, zinnia, dahlia, foxglove, regale lily and lambs ear, strategically placed among them. At its center are four raised beds containing “Limelight’ tree hydrangea that add structure and ground the composition. Just behind the fenced garden is grove of lilac trees.
Square Footage: 21,780 square feet
Natural Light:Early morning light is best for brightness and coverage. Afternoon light is bright. Sunset light is soft but limited.
