Tashiding: Beyond Earth and Skythe Gardens of Douglas & Tsognie Hamilton

Visited by up to 500 guests annually, this number promises to increase with additional garden club registrations and publicity.

Stunning photographs and the book’s elegant design take readers on an exquisite visual tour of the property and its development, including the origins and culture of its owners--Douglas Hamilton former president and chairman of The Walters Museum in Maryland and Tsognie Wangmo, the eldest child of the last king of Sikkim, shortly before the Himalayan royal kingdom was taken over by India.

Tashiding showcases the joining of two distinct cultures, and how their Western and Eastern backgrounds are manifest in the landscapes, garden themes, sculpture, ornament, and the house’s interiors. Everyone who has visited Tashiding is moved by the experiential sensation of the landscape’s different places. In developing Tashiding’s four-seasons gardens, Douglas and Tsognie envisioned an environment that invites a sense of harmony and well-being--part arboretum, part park, and part Xanadu. It is a garden for both walking and quiet contemplation, for feeling the thrill of the wind on a cool March day or for sitting in the teahouse on a rainy afternoon, watching the wind form abstract ripples on the surface of the lake. Stunning photographs take readers on an exquisite visual tour of the property, exploring its varied influences, including the family histories and cultures of its owners. The breathtaking images celebrate the beauty of the numerous gardens throughout the seasons.