In 1901 some Annapolis hotel owners paved William Paca's garden paradise and put in a parking lot. It wasn't until 1965 that a restoration team discovered a garden of unearthed delights. Now fully restored, visitors to the Paca House and Garden have a glimpse into Annapolis's floral past.
Successive terraces are increasingly narrow to enhance the illusion of distance and perspective.
William Paca, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and later the Governor of Maryland, designed the fish-shaped pond. A stone rabbit is tucked under a shrub, or a Victorian gazing ball glitters from behind some foliage. Antique gates help frame the garden, which is studded with dozens of whimsical birdhouses. Some 200 roses grace Annette Kushner's garden, and the gate is always open to neighborhood children who delight in the turtles and frogs that make themselves at home here. A granite urn that highlights the parterre allee is a relic from the past and offered Tom a clue as to the identity of the garden's original owner.