Bunny Mellon’s Cape Cod Estate Just Sold for $19 Million—Take a Virtual Tour
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This article was originally published on 6/28/2021; it has been updated to reflect new information.
While there are very few gardens designed by Rachel “Bunny” Lambert Mellon still in existence, a Cape Cod estate which she purchased for her family boasts one of those scenic landscapes—and one lucky buyer now owns the property, as it just sold for $19 million, months after hitting the market for $19.8 million.
Mellon, the philanthropist, socialite, and horticulturalist best known for designing the White House Rose Garden during the Kennedy administration, purchased the home—known as Scallop Path—with her husband, Paul, in the early 1970s. The 7.5 acre property includes a seven-bedroom, five-bathroom main house that was built in the 1700s.
The property is now owned by Thomas Lloyd, Bunny Mellon’s grandson, who recently co-authored a book on Mellon's gardens. “My grandmother began a multi-year renovation of the main house beginning in 1978,” Lloyd tells House Beautiful. “Additionally, she added a guest house (referred to as the children's barn), herb garden, vegetable garden, and main formal garden. She designed the guest house specifically for my two older half-sisters."
The property sits across an inlet from the Mellons' main Cape Cod house, which is now owned by billionaire Bill Koch. Bunny purchased the home as a vacation spot for her son and his children and stepchildren. "She specifically designed it for our family dynamic," says Lloyd, who grew up spending time there. "I remember my earliest summer memories swimming off the dock of the house.”
Lloyd remembers his grandmother occasionally coming over to the guest house to see the gardens here, which were tended to by her crew of landscape gardeners who also manicured the grounds of her two properties next door. “All of the properties could be reached via a sand pathway around a small cove,” he shares.
Today, the gardens still bear her influence: “She planted a variety of pear and apple trees around the perimeter of the garden, as well as honey locust and sassafras trees, which she and her landscaping team carefully pruned over decades,” Lloyd tells House Beautiful. Given the longstanding Mellon family connection to this property, Lloyd says he is glad that many generations were able to enjoy the estate, including his own children, who played on the same lawn (and at the same age) that he did.
Zenas Crocker of Robert Paul Properties held the listing—and you can watch a virtual tour of the estate here.
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