Wave Hill

My NYC parks and gardens guide calls Wave Hill a must-see destination for the discerning gardener. Its varied gardens contain a multitude of plant species, many imported and some quite rare. It is perfect in every season. Since I've now visited quite a few gardens in and around NYC over the last months and years, I knew I had to see this one before I left the city forever.

I definitely wanted to see the gardens- flowers are some of my favorite photography subjects. But I was curious about Wave Hill for other reasons too. The adjacent estates that make up Wave Hill occupy a long stretch of prime Hudson valley water views, directly across from the undeveloped NJ Palisades. It was a private estate, with buildings and grounds occupied by people deeply rooted to the history of NY State, and the world. Teddy Roosevelt came here for two summers as a boy, and Mark Twain lived on the premises for two years at the turn of the century. Artists and statesmen, an eccentric collector of medieval armor, and people of great wealth walked these grounds. Love that scenery- love the history!

Wave Hill is in the Bronx- that much I knew. I also knew I could take public transportation to get there. When the weather one Wednesday dawned clear and warm and I had a block of free time in the afternoon, I grabbed a map and my Metro card and took a train north.


Unfortunately I arrived without a neighborhood map. And as a result, spent the next hour and a half wending my way through unfamiliar parks, over highway overpasses and along quiet avenues and streets, noodling my way over to the river, where I knew Wave Hill should be.

Finally, exhausted and on the verge of giving up, I stumbled on the entrance to the estate grounds. Ah, Wave Hill. I will forever appreciate the sacrifice that was made to get there, and the wonderful rewards that awaited me therein...

I arrived at the gate weary and flustered. The young guy at the ticket booth looked up, surprised. At someone coming so late in the afternoon? At a young woman, on foot and alone? In any case, when I noticed aloud that the ticket prices on the sign did not match those (lesser) prices in the guidebook, he took pity on my "wretched" state and suggested that even though I did not have a student id on my person, that perhaps I should only be charged the student rate. Because it was too late in the day to expect someone to pay the whole day's fee? Because I looked so young I must be a student? Either way, I was happy. I just smiled broadly in agreement with him, handed over my money and moved through the gates, into paradise.

I imagine this is how heaven could be: broad expanses of lawn leading to the edge of an arresting autumnal view; retired types sitting in chairs scattered around the open grounds, reading or chatting quietly together; a cluster of gardens beyond an ornate greenhouse to one side; a gorgeous stone mansion peeking from around a bend in the road to the left.





I spent maybe two hours there. And had a photographic field day.......

Ah, Wave Hill. A new favorite place in my favorite city.