Trial-and-Error Arcadia

Kitty Hawks and Larry Lederman's Chappaqua gardens have been a three-decade-long journey.

- WENDY GOODMAN

In 1992, Larry Lederman, a lawyer in New York, and his wife, the interior designer Kitty Hawks, bought a small house in Chappaqua on four wooded acres overlooking a nine-acre former reservoir. “We were drawn to the enormous oak trees lining one side of the driveway,” Hawks says, “as well as two huge maple trees and a very old apple tree on the lawn.” They also loved that the property had lots of rock outcroppings. 

They nicknamed it the Hawks Nest. They hired David Piscuskas from 1100 Architects to expand the house upward to take better advantage of the views. After it was finished, Lederman asked Hawks to stand with him and tell him what she saw. “I see the house,” she said. He asked, “Where is the garden?” Hawks looked at him and started to laugh, answering, “I hate you,” knowing what they were in for.