Grounds Layout

The Elizabethan Gardens were designed and executed by two of the nation's foremost landscape architects, M. Umberto Innocenti and Mr. Richard Webel.

The first spade of dirt was turned for The Gardens on the Coronation Day of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, on June 2nd, 1953.

The 10.5 acre grounds are continuously maintained by a full-time staff. Additional groundskeepers are required during the peak season.

The garden has unique appeal to horticulturists with its myriad varieties of plants; to nature lovers with its wildflowers and indigenous shrubs and trees; and to history buffs with its historic setting at the site of the first English Colony in the New World.

The grounds are also home to period furniture and English portraits in the Gate House; ancient garden statuary and ornaments, many given by The late Honorable John Hay Whitney, former Ambassador to the Court of St. James, and Mrs. Whitney.

Conceived in 1951 by the Garden Club of North Carolina, Inc., it is located on Roanoke Island near Manteo, adjacent to the ''Lost Colony'' waterside theatre and Fort Raleigh.