Schwab Estate

A few months back I had the pleasure of visiting the gardens at the Schwab Estate in Loretto , Pennsylvania. At the time I took a mass of pictures intending to blog about it later that week. Well that certainly never happened, so today I decided to show you some of the pictures I took:
As you walk up towards the gated entrance:

You notice its a walled garden, when I visit I feel very much like visiting " The Secret Garden". I feel this way even more so when I read this sign:
The view inside is breathtaking to say the least. I have visited this garden alot, having found it when I was in college a few miles away. Some friends and I would make the trip there almost every week, sitting on the stone benches I would study, and work, and enjoy the surroundings. The statues are some that really makes you feel you were visiting in a different age:


The Fountain above is an original to the garden, the Estate is now owned by the Franciscan Monks, but the folklore is that Charles Schwab, the steel magnet, had some very risque' statues in the garden. He built alot in the area, including the Cloistered Nunnery a few miles up the road, said to have been built for his sister who was a member of the sect. Rumor has it that while his sister was praying for his salvation, he was having wild parties at the estate.

What ever the truth, some of the statues have been replaced by the Monks, such as this one:
Most of the area is pretty much the way it was when built, as you walk the gardens, you can gaze up at the Mansion sitting at the top of the waterfalls:
A trip to the top of the stairs allows you to view the mansion better:
I love to visit there at least once a year, if not in each season to watch the changes in the garden. Even in the dead of winter the beauty of the stonework and evergreens is present.

Makes one wish that era lived on still.