Friday, January 12, 2018

A special garden / the end of an era (or is it?)

In case you haven't heard there's a very special garden up for sale in the Portland area, oh and it comes with a nice house too...

Sean Hogan, legendary plantsman, designer, nursery owner, and proprietor of our local horticultural hub is selling his home and garden. New beginnings are always exciting but I have such intensely fond memories of this place that it's a hard one for me to be too excited about. Plus I'll be honest. This house is all of three miles from mine. Easy peasy for showing up at virtually any event and taking a cab home afterward, if need be. It won't be so easy to drop in at his next place (more on that below)...

The last party I attended here was a shindig before Sean's Plantfest talk for the HPSO. To make it even more special friends from around the world were in town, Mark and Gaz from England, and Gerhard from California. That's just the kind of thing that happened here all the time.

If you believe in house-karma, or that homes somehow manage to have an energy based on the lives that are lived in them (ya, a little woo-woo, but I do), then you can imagine what sort of amazing, powerful, fantastic energy this place has.

Oh and plants. Top notch plants.

Yucca rostrata, Tetrapanax, Hellebores, Pittosporum patulum, and on and on. Earlier posts of mine about this garden can be found here and here and here.

I stopped by while Sean was at the nursery to snap these garden photos, so there are no inside the house pics. To see those click through to the real estate listing here — or the story the the local newspaper, The Oregonian, did on the place (here). The Oregonian story includes several sexy garden photos by photographer Claire Takacs.

It's not every front porch that includes containers stuffed with Magnolia leaves and Agave americana medio-picta 'Alba'...

I bet Sean would let the eventual owner keep these. Gift with purchase?

The Oregonian's story includes a great quote from Riz Reyes (this Riz), a quote that sums up how I feel about Sean, and this place he created:... Seattle-based designer Rizanino "Riz" Reyes of RHR Horticulture agrees that Hogan's contributions and generosity to plant enthusiasts and the industry are unparalleled. "His house has been the hub," says Reyes, "the gathering place of horticultural greatness from around the globe who have been warmly welcomed." Reyes says that "just about any plant geek" could wrangle a casual invitation for a drink or home-cooked meal from Hogan along with a tour of an "urban oasis that exemplifies great plantsmanship and hospitality." Yep, plant and people magic.

Euphorbia stygiana

Happy mass of Agave americana 'Variegata' (or maybe something more rare and I'm just throwing it in with the common?).

The only place I've personally seen Tetrapanax even come close to blooming here in Portland was in this garden. Sean managed to plant himself in an enviable micro-climate.

The pathway to the back garden...

The deck off the back of the house.

Garden magic...Mahonia eurybracteata 'Soft Caress'.

Oh hey, here's reason enough to buy this house! It comes with a variegated Daphniphyllum...

Plant collectors take note!

Looking back down the path towards the front garden...

The gate...

Okay so where the heck is Sean going? He's finally moving out to Sauvie Island (where many people have assumed he lived for years), on the land which Cistus Nursery occupies. The Oregonian quote says: "Hogan plans to move to his nursery, where he can concentrate on his consulting business and consolidate home, work and the other passions of his life." Consolidating passions doesn't sound like such a bad idea does it?

Plus he gets to take the bones of an existing private garden and build upon them. I can't imagine how fabulously jungly this area will be in a couple of years. Want proof? Check out the series of images (here) of the nursery under construction. In just a few short years an open, flat, bit of land became an enclosed garden. I can't wait to see what happens here...

Changes! They are underway. Oh and again, should you be interested in purchasing a fabulous garden with a pretty sweet house in the middle of it, here is the listing.

Weather Diary, Jan 11: Hi 58, Low 46/ Precip .59"

All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

31 comments:

  1. How bittersweet this is! I'll always remember the good times at Sean's house. I'm sure his new place on Sauvie Island will be awesome, too, in its own way. But for you, it's a much longer drive. On the plus side, every time you go, you can check out what's new at the nursery!

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    1. Your comment about checking out the nursery had me picturing wandering through the nursery in the dark. Not so sure I'd be up for that. I was out there once way after closing, the sun setting. It was magical.

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  2. I'm sad about the sale, and I've never even seen the place! (Maybe that's why.) A garden that is sold is rarely a garden that survives, but maybe this one will be the exception that proves the rule. At any rate, I can see why you are mourning the loss of that horticultural hub -- it sounds amazing. And I'm excited to hear about what Sean will do with his new home garden.

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    1. So much of this garden is mature, tall palms and bamboo groves...I hope whomever buys it sees the value in retaining the bones. Even if they do open things up a bit.

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  3. Wow! It's such a stunningly gorgeous Craftsman-style house too. I will be so disappointed if some rich, myopic asshat comes along and razes this garden. My heart will hurt.

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    1. Mine to Allison. Hopefully the myopic asshats of the world will stear clear.

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  4. As Gerhard, and I'm sure many others, say, very bittersweet indeed. I'm happy for Sean and think it will be good for the nursery, and I'm excited to see what he does with the gardens there once he lives on-site, but this house was such a wonderful hub and the garden is incredible. I didn't spend nearly enough time there. This move actually makes it easier for me to visit, as I won't have to deal with Portland/Vancouver traffic, but I imagine the parties may be fewer and not as well-attended. That is, once he's settled into his new home and ready to host said parties.

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    1. I'm picturing lots of camping when the really big parties happen.

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  5. Can we talk Sean into airbnb'ing while he awaits a sale? ;) Best of luck to him. What fun it will be to make a garden right next to the nursery with all that amazing plant stock...

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    1. Perhaps you and Marty are destined to move to Portland and run an Airbnb?

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  6. Change is always difficult. Like everyone else, I hope the garden survives as well as the sweet memories of this place. Maybe I'll buy a lottery ticket and fantasize about living there.

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  7. It's not every day that a house complete with botanical garden comes on the market. A 'startling jungle' well worth the asking price, if you have the means. ;)

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  8. What a gorgeous home, you can almost feel the love that went into Sean's years there. It is a common style in some of the older communities surrounding Chicago and the history is palpable when looking at and touching the beautiful woodwork. I can imagine the wonderful gatherings of folks with their passion of plants in common. Then there are those magnificent gardens... maybe Sean can suggest a capeable gardener to maintain their beauty. I bet he has a few in mind.

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    1. Hopefully the new owner will want that capable gardener referral, or better yet be up for it themselves.

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  9. The interior shots are just as fabulous as the outside. What a place! You will have to let us all know how long it takes to sell and if he gets his asking price. As someone with a garden that comes with a house, I am curious to see how this all works out. Of course, he has the advantage of his reputation that is another selling point.

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    1. Indeed it is, and the Portland real estate market is still humming along at a good clip. How's the Madison market?

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  10. The house is almost as wonderful as the garden - big too with that fabulous attic space. I hope he factors the prospective purchaser's interest in the garden into his sale decision - it would be a tragedy to see it go to someone who wasn't interested in it.

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    1. That's such a hard call. When selling my house in Spokane I had an offer from a young female, who fell in love with the house (just like I had), and one from an older gentleman who I suspected was buying it as a rental property. Of course my heart wanted to sell to the young female, but her offer was not as rewarding ($) and expedient as his and in the end I had to go with the one that better fit my needs. It still makes me sad to think about it.

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  11. All of the times you've posted about his garden, I never realized it was so small (0.11 acres according to the listing). I assumed it was on a double lot or something. I guess that's what the "jungle" look does: lets you get lost in less (space). :)

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    1. Indeed the jungle look does make the property seem larger. Plus the house is build to one side of the property line, which allows for a nice big side yard...that's not filled with a driveway and garage.

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  12. I'm just trying to disregard what might happen to this garden.One can hope for a garden-centric buyer but in my experience that is rarely the case. But, it will be exciting to see what develops out on Sauvie Island.

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    1. Magic ahead at Sauvie Island, I'm sure of it.

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  13. I think you posted about him moving from this garden before? Yes, it is amazing! Wow. The pathways, the house, the gate, and of course the plants, are all so lush and gorgeous. I hope you'll have a chance to visit the house and garden in the future, too. Maybe someone you know will buy it? ;-)

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    1. No, this is the first move. You might be thinking of this post? (and if so you have an amazing memory!) http://www.thedangergarden.com/2013/12/sold.html

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  14. The picture of that wonderful wide porch made me long to spend an hour or so there. Doubt I'm alone; maybe porch-sitting sessions are a feasibly scaled-down version of Denise's wry Airbnb idea. ;>

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    1. That porch is a gem! I've got great memories of helping a friend pack plants for travel there, sitting outside and enjoying a summer evening during a party, flats of plants accumulating there during plant sales when out of town folks are visiting. There's one not so great memory too, of my husband passing out and an ambulance coming to pick him up. It's here that we first learned he's got vasovagal syncope.

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  15. This property is a jewel inside and out. It would be impossible to leave such a home and garden, if not for the new project on the horizon that must make it a bit easier. I recognized Mahonia 'Soft Caress' (because I have one), but what is in the background pot to the left? It makes for a spectacular vignette.

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  16. I feel so lucky that I got to spend an evening there -- the experience of being in that garden will stay with me for a long time. I can't wait to see what Sean does in his new spot!

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  17. Oh, I fervently hope that the new owners can appreciate the garden that comes with the house.

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