A 30-minute drive due west of Palm Beach brings you to Wellington, one of the principal equestrian centers of Florida, where hunters, jumpers and polo ponies live in supremely elegant stables, surrounded by manicured grounds. The fortunate horses enjoy living conditions that resemble equine five-star resorts. Contributor and photographer, Arriana Hohenlohe Boardman, herself a passionate equestrienne since childhood, gave us unique access to this rarified and hidden world. Here we feature three contrasting farms that demonstrate the astonishing diversity of design and aesthetics to be found in the Wellington area.
Merrylegs South
Merrylegs South, owned by Bridget Hallman, was built just over 20 years ago in a classical style reminiscent of her family’s farm in Oyster Bay, NY. The Florida property was the work of Affiniti Architects in Boca Raton, but its appearance was heavily influenced by that of the original Long Island estate, designed by the distinguished Boston architecture firm, Little & Browne. Hallman says she prefers the Northeastern style, which is also reflected in the plants and landscaping; tropical touches are provided by abundant purple orchids and rampant bougainvillea.
A resident surveys the grounds.
Highy polished brass horseshoe hooks hold a section of perfectly tied bridles in the tack room.
Cheesecake, the resident “mini” grazes freely on the lawn.
An elegant bay horse is thoroughly at ease in it’s immaculate stable.
Merrylegs South’s distinctive gambrel roof on the adjacent house is a stylish riff on Dutch colonial architecture.
Loosely inspired by the architecture of Churchill Downs, the steeple is topped with a horse weathervane.
Merrylegs’s entrance is swathed in fuchsia bougainvillea and flanked by two royal palms.
Today, the Wellington farm houses 18 horses, cared for by a team of long-tenured grooms, one of whom has worked for Hallman for 25 years. Extravagant care is taken to preserve the immaculate appearance of the stables, with horses’ hooves being cleaned before the animals are allowed to enter the barn. Hallman has been coming to Wellington since 1992 when it was a sleepy, sparsely populated place. She marvels at the contrast with the expanding population and vibrant equestrian scene of today.
Meralex
Meralex is named for Merrin and Alexander, the two children of owner Bryan Baldwin, who has lived on a farm in Tampa for the past 27 years. She had been coming down to Wellington “since the ancient times” before eventually deciding to build her own property. This was constructed over 18 months during the pandemic. Designed by Connecticut-based Tasos Kokoris, its dramatic appearance was inspired by the distinctive architectural idiom of the Cyclades Islands in Greece. “I’ve got a Scottish stone mountain house, and I love Greece, so thought let’s do a Greek barn.” (Kokoris has designed several other equestrian estates in Wellington, in contrasting styles.)
Beds of graceful pink grasses surround this Greek-inspired farm with its distinctive domed roof and inlaid stone arches.
An iron grilled opening allows a view to the paddock and fields beyond.
The stalls’s impressive iron work conversely echos the barn’s vaulted ceiling.
With perfect confirmation, the horse stands between stone columns and terra-cotta urns.
The farm’s landscaping is by renowned designer Madison Cox, and the well-known New York firm, Garden 26. Baldwin notes the extraordinary expansion of wealth in South Florida over the past three decades and laments that she didn’t build sooner. “If you bought land here 25 years ago, you’ve made a fortune.”
Postage Stamp Farm
Postage Stamp Farm was the personal obsession of Annabelle Garrett, who began with a blank slate, on which she created the exquisitely landscaped property of today. Garrett was raised in New York City, but says she was “the kid who, when we went to our weekend house in Connecticut, would ask why we didn’t live there full-time. My mother was horrified at the idea because there were no museums and no opera, but I just loved the grass and the trees and the horses. And at 52, I’m still that girl.”
The surprise of a modern sculpture sits at the end of a curved hedge and grasses, with the owner’s home behind.
Kiko stands proudly between manicured shrubbery at the edge of the pool.
Rusty figs line the length of the dark gravelled allée.
Kiko peers over his stall, under a geometric metal lantern.
However, the confidence to build her own farm stemmed in part from her mother, an interior designer, who had helped to design her own homes. Garrett worked on the landscaping with a girlfriend, Sophia Trapp, a “super-talented landscape artist.” One stipulation was “no palm trees. I love them when I’m sitting on the beach, but I didn’t want a single palm tree on the property.” For Garrett, Postage Stamp Farm provided a glorious opportunity to integrate “elements from different parts of my life. For example, the sculpture in the garden is by an artist we got to know while staying at our house in the South of France.”