Flora & Fauna: Historic Carriage House Tour & Garden Party Fundraiser

Join us for the Springfield Preservation Trust’s Annual Garden Party Fundraiser, featuring a historic tour, opera performance, Victorian era music, a silent auction, hors d’oeuvres, and a lush formal garden setting at The Carriage House at the Barney Estate.

Highlighting work by the Springfield Garden Club and the Springfield Department of Public Parks, the event features floral and garden designs fit for Victorian era garden strolls—Carriage House plantings information will be provided for those interested in how the Garden Club and Parks Department curate the estate’s gardens and planters.

Take a stroll through history as well, with a tour of the historic Carriage House, including the second level, which among other gems, features Mr. Everett Barney’s office, including a restored pastoral mural and a grandfather clock which has stood on the property since the Barney’s ownership.

Finally, hear youth artist Baillie DiStefano in an operatic performance in the Carriage House ballroom, as she performs “Deh, vieni, non tardar,” from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro”.

Summer florals and fauna-inspired patterns encouraged, to celebrate the "Flora & Fauna: A Forest Park Garden Party Fundraiser" theme!

Bountiful hors d’oeuvres will be served, and historic and contemporary items and experiences will be featured in the silent auction. Cash bar available for libations.

Image above: The Barney estate, called Pecousic Villa, featured upon a historic postcard, prior to its demolition in the 1950s, to make way for Interstate 91.

About the Carriage House & Gardens

The Carriage House at the Barney Estate was built in 1883, alongside Pecousic Villa, the towering mansion of Everett Barney, a local ice skate manufacturer who owned much of what is now the western section of the park, accounting for 175 acres. Pecousic Village was devastatingly demolished in the 1950s for the construction of Interstate 91, but the Carriage House stands the test of time, along with Barney’s well-landscaped grounds, including ponds, fountains, a waterfall, bridges, and a network of paths.

The Carriage House sits snuggly within Forest Park—at 735 acres, it is one of the largest municipal parks in the country. The park was established in 1884, when Orrick H. Greenleaf—one of the city’s park commissioners—donated 65 acres of land on the south side of Sumner Avenue. The city accepted this offer in 1884, and soon allocated funding for acquiring additional land adjacent to this property. This marked the start of Forest Park, which would steadily grow with further donations—including the largest donation by Barney Everett—and land acquisitions throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Springfield Union, one of the city’s newspapers, praised Barney for his landscaping work in his obituary in 1916, writing:

“Forest Park is Springfield’s great breathing ground, and a trip there always includes a visit to Barney’s front yard. There he showed his passionate love for nature and that he was an expert horticulturalist. He planted there rare shrubs and trees from Europe, Egypt, China, Japan and India, and there he planned and maintained lily ponds containing nearly all varieties of lilies. There, too, he maintained a lotus pond. Mr. Barney’s nature was a restless, untiring one, and he changed his lawns and flower gardens frequently. His taste ran strongly to mathematical arrangement of flower beds and shrubs, and one is constantly startled by coming suddenly on a stone deer or other piece of statuary.”

Today, The Carriage House is a frequent wedding and events venue, and is home to the Springfield Garden Club, which manages the plantings and gardens around the structure.

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Support the Springfield Preservation Trust in its mission to preserve and protect properties in Springfield, Massachusetts which have architectural, historic, educational, or general cultural significance—including properties such as this one!—by attending our Annual Garden Party Fundraiser this year!

Tickets are $40 for Springfield Preservation Trust and Springfield Garden Club members and $50 for non-members, and can be purchased online via Eventbrite.

Photo above: Performer Baillie DiStefano (right) performs in opera Acis and Galatea.

About Guest Performer Baillie DiStefano

We are honored to have youth artist Baillie DiStefano performing with us at the event. Baillie will be performing “Deh, vieni, non tardar” (from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro”).

Among notable performances, Baillie has performed as Ariel in “The Little Mermaid” and was a choir member for the “Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds” show at The Bushnell, with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. She was also recently an ensemble member for opera Acis and Galatea while also serving as understudy for the part of Damon in that opera. She has also performed as a supporting vocalist with Grammy-winning artist Mr. G at multiple festivals and shows, including the Green River Music Festival.

Baillie was honored as a Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts' 18 Under 18 recipient in 2023. She attended the Springfield Conservatory of the Arts and New England Music Camp for summers. She currently attends the University of Hartford, double majoring in vocal performance and music education.

About the Springfield Preservation Trust

Founded in 1972, the Springfield Preservation Trust strives to preserve and protect properties in Springfield that have architectural or historic significance. As the only non-profit, non-government advocacy group for historic preservation in Springfield, the Trust will continue to be the voice of preservation into the future. To learn more, visit its website at springfieldpreservation.org.

About the Springfield Garden Club

Organized in 1917 and federated in 1928, the Springfield Garden Club is “rooted in the past and still growing with a mission to create interest in the art of gardening, stimulate the promotion of civic beauty through horticulture and conservation, and encourage the appreciation of the visual art of designing with plant material. The club is a proud member of National Garden Clubs, New England Garden Clubs, Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, and Tower Hill Botanic Garden. To learn more, visit its website at: springfieldgardenclubma.org.

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