Howell Residence & Visitor’s Center

Visitors Center

The Joe Howell house began in 1929 when Joe Howell purchased the land across the street from his family’s nursery and built the original four-room house for the princely sum of $3000. Along with the gardens around it, the house grew from four rooms to 26 by the time it was finished in the mid-1950’s. The gardens around the house were reclaimed in 2008 when the KBGA staff found and reset the original brick borders defining the planting beds. You can still see many of Joe’s signature design elements in the double brick edging, traditional use of evergreen shrubs, and the permanence of the stonework. The existing beds were established in the late 1950’s/early 1960’s, and new plantings by KBGA staff reflect the design style that was in vogue at the time, i.e. heavy on both needled and broadleaf evergreens and light on perennial or annual interest or color.