28 SPRING 2017
P
HOTOGRAPHER KINDRA CLINEFF IS KEEN ON
anything with roots. Show her a house with his-
tory and she is deep into the details, probing the
pilasters and delving into the dovetailing. So when she
noticed the "For Sale" sign on the First Period Standley
Lake House in Topsfield in 2003, Clineff and partner
Tim Preston immediately dialed up for a tour. From the
road, she could readily see that the late-1600s house
was steeped in personality unmuddled by time or
thoughtless renovations. What she did not know was
that a captivating garden lay hidden from street view
on the far side of the house. The garden was the deal-
maker. Looking back, she cannot recall what tugged
hardest at her heartstrings—the old stone wall or the
brick pathways. And that was before she actually saw
the profuse plantings.
The previous owner was a gardener, but the full
glory of her magic was not fully apparent when Clineff
and Preston went on their initial late-autumn tour.
And on their midwinter moving day, the stone walls
were so buried that the van came within inches of tak-
nshoremag.com/nshorehome/
cultivate
A breathtaking influx of
time-honored springtime
cohorts including
dog-tooth violets, trillium,
bloodroot, lily-of-the-valley,
lungwort, and muscari.
