“Man, this is like going to church!” were the first words uttered by friend and colleague, Ed Blake, as he entered the Miller House and Garden property a few weeks ago. Ed is a landscape architect from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and now working to develop the IMA’s Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park. He was part of a small group joining Bradley Brooks and me for a special Saturday morning tour of this remarkable site.
Ed first witnessed the site decades ago while on a work assignment in Columbus. He was then only able to peek through the already tall arborvitae hedges guarding the property’s east side, but knew the place was indeed very special. After all, one of the 20th century’s masters of landscape design, Dan Kiley, had worked his magic here. For all of us in the field, this is a place for reverence.
Miller House, summer 2009 (Ed Blake and Bradley Brooks on far right)
