The gardens and grounds of the Bellefield property, featuring live oaks, pines, camellias, dogwoods and azaleas, have a distinctly Southern feel.They were designed by Umberto Innocenti, of the landscape design firm Innocenti & Webel, of Roslyn, Long Island, NY. Belle’s partner at the time the house was built, Barbara Donohoe, took an interest in the Bellefield gardens and traveled around the South collecting plants, especially camellias, many of which are still on the property. It is spring in these clips from the Baruch home movies, in which we see the Bellefield grounds, Bernard Baruch coming for a visit, Belle with Lois Massey and a friend, and a group relaxing by the Bellefield pond.
The formal terrace on the south side of Bellefield House is made of old brick said to have been salvaged from the Charleston Academy of Music, which was demolished in 1936. It was on this brick terrace that Belle had drinks with President Franklin Roosevelt during his stay at Hobcaw Barony in April, 1944. FDR took a drive around the property every afternoon and often stopped at Bellefield for a dry martini with Belle - one of the daily one-and-a-half cocktails his doctors permitted him to drink. She and FDR shared interests in fishing, sailing and horse racing and he found her company relaxing.
