The Evil Eye of Foreclosures Casts a Spell Over Western Hills Nursery in Bay Area
The Evil Eye of foreclosures has cast a spell over Western Hills Nursery that is nearly 50 years old. It was the brainchild of Marshall Olbrich and Lester Hawkins. They had crammed into this plot of land innumerable species of plants and trees brought from all over the world. Their findings were published in journals and won for them a band of supporters. Flak had said, “Gardeners would come from all over to see what they had had, take some ideas. Then local nurseries would buy from them; gardeners like to share.” But when they died the pair who next took over the garden could not manage finances causing the bank to foreclose upon it.
Hawkins and Olbrich died in 1980 and 1991 respectively. They left the garden to an employee who had been with them for a long time but since she could no longer manage it she sold the garden to Robert Stansel and Joseph Gatta who were residents of the locality in 2007. Stansel and Gatta, who bought it for $1.5 million, had no past experience in running a nursery-cum-garden as big as Western Hill. Its class was beyond their handling powers. But they decided to hold on to the property until a non-profit group could take over. Meanwhile they decided to charge an entry fee.
However soon after disaster struck – the economy tanked. Noble thinks that losing the garden is akin to losing a national park. Noble said, “People are more aware of the fragility of the earth. There are fewer and fewer open spaces that are of special place and character, that’s a shame.”
The representative of the agents selling the foreclosed garden, Monica Miranda, said that the value of the land including the plants and trees still standing has not yet been assessed fully. For the past three months the garden has remained neglected. Occasionally volunteers droop by to rake and weed but slowly neglect is spreading.
A local resident named Dough Schaeffer who lives 3 miles distant said that he is afraid that the new owner might not honour the history and importance of Western Hills. He said, “It’d be a shame if someone came in and built up a trophy house on top of it.” The signs of decay are obvious to anyone talking an afternoon walk through the place. The pathways are dirty. The overhanging vines have dried up. Rakes and pitchforks lying near a broken-down shed are rusted. The mini bridges are covered with moss. A Japanese Zelkova tree is still clinging on to its majesty. To green lovers the place is sacred.
