BEHIND this year’s Tulip Time garden of the year lays a story somewhere between Day of the Triffids and The Great Gatsby.

Hopewood, a 12 acre masterpiece set on Oxley Hill west of Bowral town centre, was judged best garden over an acre with external help.

Present owners, Barry and Lynne Anstee had undertaken the task of restoring the grounds to its original splendour since 1997.

As an architect, Mr Anstee had been searching for a residence where the structure of the garden interplayed with the building itself.

“The most popular English garden designer, Sir Edmond Luton was famed for building relationships between the building and the garden itself, so I guess I too was looking for this kind of relationship,” Mr Anstee said.

Although the design origins of Hopewood have become obscured, Mr Anstee has little doubt that Sir Luton had considerable influence in the design process.

“When we first saw Hopewood I could see that the garden had such good bones and the house had beautiful lines,” he said.

“It deserved to be restored to its original condition and that’s what we set out to do as soon as we purchased the property.”

The first seeds of Hopewood were planted by one of the original citizens of Bowral, Ben Osborne in 1884.

It is in these formative years of Hopewood that many of the established elements of the property took root.

Hopewood is situated on Centennial Road Bowral close to Bowral Country Club.

It will be open to the public for the entire long weekend from 10am-4pm.