Hard work turns a vision into a real garden

Some landscape architects insist that the entryway to a garden is nearly as important as what you will find inside its boundaries. It heightens the interest and prepares the visitor for the splendor that lies within.

That's particularly true of Big Springs Garden, which lies nestled in the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern California, a few miles from the rustic community of Sierra City.

Visitors approaching from either direction will be driving along the edge of the North Fork of the Yuba River where the scenery is reminiscent of the famed Yosemite Valley.

The blue sky enlivened by puffy clouds; the clean, fresh air; the sound of the river; and the sight of granite peaks rising through forest greenery make travelers ease back on the accelerator, breathe deeply, and simply enjoy their surroundings.

That's what happened when entrepreneur Don Phillips first visited the 118-acre parcel he purchased some 40 years ago. And if the sparkle in his deep blue eyes is an indication, his love for Big Springs is just as intense now as it was then.

"The first time I heard of the property was through some friends who had purchased it simply because it was beautiful," Mr. Phillips recalls. "They had thoughts of logging it and had put in a logging road. There was also an idea of developing it into small lots with vacation homes, but they never really pursued the idea. I think now what they really wanted was to find someone who would be a sort of custodian for that scenic beauty."

Phillips envisioned creating his own personal paradise on Big Springs, with a house and extensive gardens. But when Phillips explained to his friends that he was unable to come up with the full purchase price, the owners accepted a small down payment and monthly payments so reasonable that they were jokingly referred to over the years as "the grocery check."

Finally, in 1988, Phillips asked his friends how much he still owed and paid it off so he could begin building a home there. "I'm looking into the title history now," he says, "and I think there have only been three private owners of the property over the last century. Before that, it might have been in the hands of a railroad company."

Visitors to Big Springs, which is now open to the public, listen to the story, look around, and say things such as, "I can certainly see why you would have bought a place like this."

But it didn't always look this way.

"You wouldn't believe the way it was," Phillips says with a laugh. "I had to climb up and under and over the fallen trees and fight through the brush just to see what I'd purchased. It truly took hours to go where you can walk in a few minutes now."

The first projects were to hire noted architect James Babcock to design a two-story manor house and a contractor to build it at the edge of the one-acre pond. Next came the lawn, along with an arched, blue, Japanese-style bridge reminiscent of the one in Monet's garden at Giverny, France.

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