{"nrhp_refnum":"73001240","name":"Sonnenberg Gardens","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"151 Charlotte St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Canandaigua","county":"Ontario County","state":"NY","lat":42.89845317150005,"lon":-77.27237926613843,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-09-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 40-acre estate of ornamental gardens and a stone Richardsonian-style mansion at 151 Charlotte Street on the eastern edge of Canandaigua, New York. The house was built in 1887 and the gardens were laid out around 1900.","why_significant":"The nomination calls the gardens a rare series of ornamental gardens, notable for their scale and for their remarkable preservation over about seventy years. They were designed around 1900 by landscape architect Ernest Bowditch for Mary Clark Thompson. They also survived decades of institutional ownership by a Veterans Administration hospital largely intact.","narrative":"Sonnenberg Gardens is a 40-acre estate on the eastern edge of Canandaigua, New York, behind a thick masonry wall. It holds lawns, a deer park, a large stone-and-shingle house built in 1887, and eight distinct gardens: Italian, Rose, Sub-Rosa, Blue and White, Pansy, Old-Fashioned, Rock and Japanese. Frederick Ferris Thompson and Mary Clark Thompson bought the land in 1863. After his death in 1899, Mrs. Thompson had the grounds redesigned around 1900 by landscape architect Ernest Bowditch, and a Japanese designer, K. Wadamori, planned the Japanese Garden. The nomination values the estate for its architecture, landscape design and sculpture, and for the rare scale and preservation of its gardens. A Veterans Administration hospital bought the property in 1931 and kept up the gardens as part of patient rehabilitation. In 1972 the house and gardens passed to a non-profit corporation, and in 1973 they opened permanently to the public.","period_of_significance":"1887 (house), c. 1900 (gardens); 19th and 20th centuries","architect_builder":"Ernest Bowditch (landscape architect); Francis R. Allen (believed to have made additions to the house); K. Wadamori (Japanese Garden); John Handrahan (Rock Garden); original architect of the house unknown","architectural_style":"Richardsonian house","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition rated excellent to good. House and gardens were conveyed in 1972 to a non-profit corporation, Sonnenberg Gardens, and opened permanently to the public in spring 1973 while restoration was under way.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:40.004647-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/73001240.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001240/5bb7277dc3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001240/5bb7277dc3-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nelro (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sonnenberg_Mansion,_Canandaigua,_New_York.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nelro (talk)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sonnenberg_Mansion,_Canandaigua,_New_York.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320540","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnenberg_Gardens","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q607584"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/ontario-county/sonnenberg-gardens-73001240/"}