A Day With P. Allen Smith at Moss Mountain Farm - Part I

Our day began bright and early, with the trolleys picking us up at our hotel at 7:00 a.m. We rode out of town for about half an hour through the fog to Moss Mountain Farm, home to sheep, ducks, chickens, and more, including two dogs named Angel and Lucky. P. Allen Smith lives here, too, and this is where you see him much of the time on his PBS show, The Garden Home.

As we made our way up the winding drive to the house, I actually got chills, not quite believing I was there.

Sheep grazing in the pasture...

then the giant oak tree...

 
and finally, the yellow home on the hill - a real place that I'd only seen on TV before now...

We filed out of the trolleys and assembled on the lawn for a group photo, with a light mist in the air.

Group photo courtesy of Donna Evans and Hortus, Ltd.

We then met on the front porch where Allen gave us a little history of the place, beginning with some information about the very large post oak tree in front of the house.





For the next hour we were given a tour of the brick home, which is decorated with an eclectic mix of styles with a contemporary look that somehow stays true to the home's design. Allen had the house built recently in the Greek-revival style, though it looks as if it's been there for a couple hundred years. It's a very eco-minded home, even using ground-up blue jeans for insulation.

The large kitchen opens to a more casual living area and has an eating area adjacent, with unique brushed nickel chairs - a contemporary spin on a classic style.

In the formal dining area, we see a piece of art by Allen - a pumpkin, part of "The Big Ass Vegetable Series."

On the second floor were the master bedroom and bath...

 
 

Nieces and nephews have this charming room when they come to spend family time on the farm.

One of my favorite places in the home is the sleeping porch on the second floor. I can just imagine lying here on a summer's night, listening to the night sounds as breezes blow through. Another screened porch is on the first floor, perfect for relaxing with friends.

The sleeping porch even has provisions for bathing!

The lowest level of the home has a comfortable gathering room and a guest bedroom with a bath. Though most of this level is below ground, there are windows giving some natural light.

The farm sits on 650 acres, overlooking the Arkansas River, which gives beautiful views from just about every window in the home. The back of the home looks towards the river and the gardens, with a detached studio to the left and a summer kitchen on the right.

Inside the studio

I found Allen's home to be comfortable and welcoming and it was gracious of him to allow us to see it in this way. In Part II, I'll share my views of his amazing gardens.

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I was invited to attend the Garden2Blog Event by P. Allen Smith and Associates/Hortus, Ltd., free of charge. My airfare, lodging and meals were provided (with some exceptions) by them. Any opinions expressed on this blog in this post and any subsequent posts about my experiences or products associated with them are my own true and honest opinions, as always. Please note that they are just that - my opinions - and I was not asked to blog, tweet, or post on Facebook about any of it.

Continuing the Garden2Blog Experience With P. Allen Smith

This spring has been a whirlwind of travel and activity for me and while my intentions of keeping up with blogging about it all were good, it just didn't happen. But I'm home for a little bit now and hope to share what all I've been up to, continuing with where I left off, somewhere back in Arkansas! When I last left you hanging, we'd just visited the Arkansas Governor's Mansion and two private gardens. Let's finish out that day...

Because of the unstable weather and downpours of rain, we took a slight detour in our planned agenda on the first day of Garden2Blog with P. Allen Smith. Original plans had us ending the day at Allen's Gaines Street home in Little Rock for an outdoor dinner party. That wasn't going to be possible, so we took a quick visit outside while the weather held out.

Allen purchased the home for a dollar when he returned home from studying in England. The homeowner had wanted to tear the house down, but the city wouldn't allow it, as it was an historical home. It would be permitted, however, to move it to another location.  The owner sold the house to Allen for a dollar and he had it moved to its present location. A dollar! What a bargain! That is, until he put $300,000 into it.

Though we didn't see the inside of the home, our quick tour outside showed us landscaping that was classic P. Allen Smith, with its outdoor room style.

We hopped back on the bus and headed out of town to near Scott, AR, to see Marlsgate Plantation. This beautiful plantation home belongs to Allen's high school art teacher, David Garner, and is located in the Mississippi Delta.  When we arrived at the home, it was pouring down rain, so we opened our umbrellas and ran for the house.

Once inside, we found that Marlsgate had no electrical power and hadn't had it since the previous night's severe storms. This meant that we got to tour this mansion by candlelight, which really gave the whole experience a surreal feeling.

Though we didn't get to see things as well as we might have, Mr. Garner was such a gracious host, entertaining us with wonderful stories and refreshments of pecan cookies made with pecans from his own trees. The peach bellinis were wonderful and just may be my new favorite mixed drink.

Again, the weather prevented us from seeing most of the gardens, but we got a good idea of them as we waded the water to view one of the formal knot gardens.

 

More storms were forecast, so we hopped back on the bus and headed back to Little Rock for dinner.

We gathered in the Argenta District, home to the arts of Little Rock, and enjoyed a catered meal with entertainment by street entertainers that some of us had seen at the Farmer's Market that morning.

Teresa O'Connor, Mike Lieberman, and Jenny Peterson share a laugh.

I had my first taste of Limoncello, made right there in Little Rock by Lombardi.

A good night's sleep was in order, for we had a full schedule planned at Allen's Moss Mountain Farm the next day. Once more, I found a bag of English Toffee candy on my pillow when I returned to my hotel room. How did they know it's my favorite candy?



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I was invited to attend the Garden2Blog Event by P. Allen Smith and Associates/Hortus, Ltd., free of charge. My airfare, lodging and meals were provided (with some exceptions) by them. Any opinions expressed on this blog in this post and any subsequent posts about my experiences or products associated with them are my own true and honest opinions, as always. Please note that they are just that - my opinions - and I was not asked to blog, tweet, or post on Facebook about any of it.