The Allée and border gardens bring a combination of panoramic formality and small-scale intimacy to the landscape of the Oldfields estate. The Allée, a sweeping lawn lined with 58 red oak trees, stretches 775 feet in front of Lilly House, terminating with a circular pool and fountain. Designed by Percival Gallagher of the famous landscape architecture firm Olmsted Brothers, the Allée is a design element of stately grandeur—one that has been borrowed by American landscape architects from great European palaces and estates.
On either side of the Oldfields Allée, Gallagher added border gardens. These sun-and-shade gardens offer intimate spaces with changing views of flowers. Perfect for a relaxing stroll, these informal areas are often referred to as "the gardener's gardens," as they feature many interesting and unusual combinations of bulbs, perennials, annuals, shrubs and trees.