The Garden Conservancy mourns the loss of T. Emmott Chase on January 17, at the age of 99, just a few months shy of his 100th birthday. Together with Ione, his wife of 74 years, Emmott created a serenely beautiful and sophisticated garden in the dense Douglas fir forests of the Puyallup River valley under the majestic profile of Mt. Rainier.

Emmott Chase grew up in the town of Electron, Washington, where his father was employed by Puget Power Company (now Puget Sound Energy). Emmott himself had a 47-year career at the company, becoming a supervisor. His intimate knowledge of the power plant and its workings earned him the title “Mr. Electron” by his peers.

In 1943, Emmott and Ione purchased 11 acres of woodland outside of the town of Orting, where they built their home and garden. The Chases’ lifelong, deep, and abiding love for the foothills and mountains was the foundation upon which they built their garden. They sculpted garden spaces to reflect, frame, and contrast to the surrounding grand landscape. The Chase Garden became an oasis of calm and remarkable beauty.

Word of the beautiful Chase Garden spread throughout the country’s gardening circles. It has been showcased in Homestyle magazine (April 2001), where it was named one of “America’s Ten Most Beautiful Gardens,” in Starr Ockenga’s book on important women gardeners in America, Earth on Her Hands (1999), and in numerous other publications. The New York Times (June 2003) featured the Chase Garden, admiring its “swirling drifts of native ferns, baneberry, and vanilla leaf” and gentle curves that seem to “soar off the edge of the cliff and across a valley to Mt. Rainier, 14 miles away.” Emmott enjoyed the outdoors and trees. Until late in his 70s, Emmott would rope himself into trees to clean out limbs. The Chases collaborated for more than 45 years, well into their 90s, to create their beautiful garden. Ione was the designer; together, they built it. Emmott often brought home rocks—as large as a 2,000 lb. sandstone slab—to install as features in the landscape.

Emmott and Ione Chase, who died in 2006, not only had the vision and energy to create a place of exceptional beauty, but also the foresight to ensure that their legacy would live on. The Garden Conservancy has been fortunate in having the opportunity to work closely with both Emmott and Ione Chase since 1995, when the Chase Garden became a Preservation Project of the Conservancy. The Conservancy accepted a conservation easement on the site, protecting the scenic and conservation value of the landscape in perpetuity. It has worked closely with the Chases and the Friends of the Chase Garden to document the garden, record their wealth of knowledge, and plan for the current and future stewardship of Ione and Emmott’s legacy. The Garden Conservancy, together with the newly incorporated Chase Garden, Inc., now assumes the mantle of preserving and managing their exceptional garden. The Garden Conservancy will own the garden and open it to the public for visitation on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from April to October.

The Garden Conservancy is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1989 to preserve exceptional gardens for public enjoyment and education. By facilitating access to diverse examples of our cultural heritage, the Conservancy encourages greater appreciation and stewardship of these fragile resources. Working in partnership with individual garden owners and public and private organizations, the Conservancy uses its legal, horticultural, and financial resources to develop innovative methods of securing a garden's future. For more information, visit www.gardenconservancy.org.