The Lazarus Garden
Karen and Michael Lazarus
235 Mount Bolus Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
A Mountain View in the Heart of Chapel Hill
This property and home are unique. The fern lined drive commences between stone gateposts crowned with sunbursts fashioned from industrial relics. It proceeds sinuously, accented on the left by stone posts topped with antique iron cauldrons planted with brilliant red geraniums, eventually revealing the unexpected house, a re-sited 1850s tobacco barn wrapped by a newer structure. The present owners purchased the property and 5 ½ acres in 2009 and have lovingly revived and developed the property.
An elevated deck along the entire back of the house offers a spectacular vista of tree tops and downtown church spires. The deck is safely railed with densely planted boxes, exuberantly filled with an ever changing variety of annuals and perennials. To the right of the house is a sharply sloping tiered garden, the upper levels planted with ferns, the lower ones with perennials and herbs. The owners latest addition is a “Collector’s Garden” featuring a variety of plants including a favorite, ‘Snow N Summer’ Asiatic jasmine. Whimsical sculptures abound, including an ostrich, a unicorn whirligig, and a recycled glass and iron birdbath in the shape of a giant blossom.
Sebastian Hamilton, of The Unique Plant, was instrumental in this original and imaginative use of an unusual terrain.
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