Reynolda Gardens-Wake Forest

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States

---

Reynolda Gardens in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is a historic 125-acre botanical site originally part of a large country estate created by tobacco magnate R. J. Reynolds and his wife Katharine Smith Reynolds between 1906 and 1923.

The formal garden, designed by landscape architect Thomas W. Sears starting in 1915, includes four acres of well-maintained garden spaces such as the Greenhouse Gardens with a sunken garden, various border plantings, rose gardens, theme gardens, specimen trees, and boxwood hedges, complemented by tea houses, fountains, and pergolas.

The estate's ownership was transferred to Wake Forest University in the late 1940s after a series of donations beginning in 1958 from their daughter Mary Reynolds Babcock, and the gardens underwent restoration in 1995 with the National Park Service to return them to their original design.

Alongside the formal gardens, the grounds feature woodlands, fields, wetlands, and walking trails, integrating beautiful cultivated areas with natural landscapes. Keeping alive Katharine Reynolds’ vision, the gardens remain open daily with free admission, providing community engagement through horticultural events, education programs, and a deep connection to regional history and nature.