John P. Humes Japanese Stroll Garden

Mill Neck, New York, United States

---

The John P. Humes Japanese Stroll Garden is a small, 7‑acre Japanese garden tucked into the wooded landscape of Mill Neck on Long Island, New York, designed as a quiet place for contemplative walks and passive recreation rather than active play.

Created between 1962 and 1965 for diplomat John P. Humes and his wife Jean, the garden blends Japanese landscape principles—with stepping‑stone paths, ponds, a tea house, and carefully placed stones and plantings—into the surrounding North Shore woods to evoke a peaceful mountain‑by‑the‑sea setting.

After the Humes family formed a foundation and the property was later acquired by the North Shore Land Alliance, the garden opened to the public on weekends for several months each year, allowing visitors to experience its intimate, winding paths, seasonal plantings, and calm atmosphere without the crowds or formality of a large public park.