History Cont.
After James’ death in 1924, his son J. Laurence Sprunt and wife, Annie Gray, extended the gardens to Roger Moore’s graveyard with the help of Robert Swann Sturtevant, a landscape architect and friend who came down from Massachusetts to help in the winters. In the 1930’s and 1940’s they planted live oak trees, azaleas, camellias, flowering peach, daphne, hydrangeas, crepe myrtles, dogwoods, and colorful annuals. In the late 1930’s a cousin had a bad automobile accident so the gardens were opened to the public for a long weekend to help pay the medical bills. The gardens have remained open to the public ever since.
Churchill Bragaw contributed greatly to the planning and building of the gardens as manager for some years before World War II (1939-1945) where he lost his life in fierce warfare in Italy. An impressive dormitory was named in his memory at North Carolina State University in Raleigh where he received his degree in horticulture.
After the death of Laurence Sprunt in 1973 and Annie Gray Sprunt in 1978, the ownership was shared by their three sons: Kenneth Murchison, Samuel Nash, and Laurence Gray Sprunt. Kenneth succeeded Bragaw as manager of the gardens after World War II until the mid 1990’s when Laurence bought the gardens from his brothers and continued the management.
The façade of Orton House with impressive live oak trees situated on a high bluff overlooking the colonial rice fields and Cape Fear River attract thousands of visitors each year. Lawns and water gardens lend variety to the lush vegetation. The woodlands are devoted largely to pine forestry.
