Frog Hollow, a Wilmington Garden Club tour staple, gets new owners
It’s the changing of the garden at Frog Hollow.
The 2-acre gurgling, whimsical wonderland that welcomed thousands of visitors over 24 years on the Wilmington Garden Day tour is being transferred from the loving green thumbs of Eve and Per Thyrum to a new guardian.
“As we were creating our garden and renovating our home over the past 38 years, we had no thoughts of ever, ever leaving Frog Hollow,” Eve Thyrum said of the property at 19 Crestfield Road in Brandywine Hundred.
But as Lewis Carroll’s Walrus said, “The time has come.”
“It is sad, yet exciting,” she said. “We have found a new home in which we have created a new garden. Although it is a much smaller garden, it is filled with selected plants, stonework and sculptures we have come to love.”
The couple actually found that new home several years ago, in Kendal at Longwood. They have transitioned gradually, preparing their legendary garden for the next owner, who preferred not to be identified for this story.
Tell us about your space
Got a Delaware Space you'd like to see featured? We're looking for historical, eclectic and new homes, yards or other interesting spaces to feature. Send an email with your name, address of the space and a photo, if possible, to spaces@delawareonline.com.
Eve Thyrum hand-stamped hundreds of aluminum labels to identify all the woody plants in the manner of Longwood Gardens. In fact, students from Longwood’s Professional Gardener Program have been brought in the past to study Frog Hollow, home to more than 2,000 species of plants.
In addition to being featured in a number of magazines, Frog Hollow has the distinction of being placed in the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Gardens in 2001.
Built in 1949, the house sits on a cul de sac of a custom-home community initially carved from a farm. The Thyrums purchased the property in 1979.
Both scientists by trade, Per Thyrum has been the master of hardscaping. Among his creations is a dovecote that foils squirrels with its copper-sheathed legs.
As its name implies, plenty of frogs make this suburban retreat their home. A sunken pond even features a miniature ramp to help them hop in and out.
DELAWARE SPACES: Read about other eclectic homes
Eve Thyrum has overseen the horticultural growth of the plot, which includes a terraced knot garden, hundreds of varieties of hostas and a Himalyan cedar coaxed from a seed in a holiday arrangement from the year the couple moved into the house.
That’s right, there’s also a house. And while the thousands of visitors to the garden may not have viewed it, it is just as remarkable.
“It’s a very nontraditional, beautiful home,” said listing agent Holly Henderson-Smith of Fox and Roach. “It’s very Gatsby-esque — I could see someone living there and having great parties.”
The Thyrums added a greenhouse conservatory that flows into a dining area, which in turn is overlooked by a library. The liberal use of skylights, soaring ceilings, structural beams and windows throughout lend the feel of a luxurious treehouse.
A glassed loft space that serves as a small bedroom offers the opportunity to wake up to a view of the entire garden.
The original kitchen is now a butler’s pantry, complete with a sink, dishwasher and ample counter space. The breezeway and screened porch that used to adjoin that area were transformed into a large, contemporary, eat-in kitchen with touches like soapstone countertops.
There’s a Bosch dishwasher, Sub-Zero refrigerator and Wolf double oven, along with one of the home’s three fireplaces. Following on the fanciful touches featured outside the home, an unassuming glass panel over the fireplace tilts down to be used as a plate warmer.
A formal dining room, living room and family room with heated tile floors also fill the open plan of the main level.
All in all, not a bad indoor and outdoor palette for the fresh owners. As for the Thyrums, they’re focused on putting down new roots in their Kendal community.
“Frog Hollow will endure. Someone new will now have the chance to live in and enjoy our beloved space,” Eve Thyrum said. “They, too, will add their own personal touches.”
19 Crestfield Road, Wilmington
(SOLD) Asking price: $940,000
Size: 3,700 square feet
Lot: 2.12 acres
Rooms: Four bedrooms, three bathrooms
Garage: Four-car detached, includes tractor and golf cart; large steel and brick pavilion
Built: 1949
Noteworthy: Popular staple of the Garden Club of Wilmington’s tours for 24 consecutive years; placed on the Smithsonian Institution Archives of American Gardens in 2001.
Tell us about your space
Got a Delaware Space you'd like to see featured? We're looking for historical, eclectic and new homes, yards or other interesting spaces to feature. Send an email with your name,address of the space and a photo, if possible, to spaces@delawareonline.com.
More:Sellers market for real estate in Delaware
More:Newark's Washington House continues historic 'first class' accommodations