What Is Cheekwood Estate & Gardens, and Should You Go?
Time out in nature is good for your mental health (hello, vitamin D!), and physical health, reducing stress. That’s why you’re interested in checking out Cheekwood Estate & Gardens in Nashville during your next trip there. What can you do at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens?
Cheekwood Estate & Gardens features a botanical garden and indoor museum with artwork and an ever-rotating list of exhibitions. You can also rent facilities on the grounds for proposals, corporate events, and weddings.
If you’re interested in learning even more about Cheekwood Estate & Gardens, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about this Nashville gem, from what you can do there and how much admission costs.
Let’s get started!
What Is Cheekwood Estate & Gardens?
Cheekwood Estate & Gardens is a part-indoor, part-outdoor attraction in the Nashville area.
The garden is named after Mabel and Leslie Cheek, who married in nearby Clarksville back in 1896. After getting married, the Cheeks moved to Nashville.
The couple–like most people–wanted a bigger home. By 1929, the building of the Cheekwood mansion began, and by 1932, the construction was complete.
The home included 36 rooms, with a library (that housed 2,000 books at the time), a hidden staircase, two elevators, 12 bathrooms, and 11 bedrooms.
After both Mabel and Leslie passed away years apart, their children by the late 1950s decided to open Cheekwood to the public. They also declared that the Cheekwood estate would become a fine arts center and garden.
What Can You Do at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens?
Today, Cheekwood Estate & Gardens is a cultural hub in Nashville, offering beautiful natural sights, inspiring art, and exhibitions that showcase the heart and soul of this great city.
Let’s take a closer look at what there is to do at Cheekwood.
Botanical Gardens
The botanical gardens are wonderful to stroll in throughout the year, as the Cheekwood Estate & Gardens staff will change out the greenery and flowers according to the season.
Here are the various areas of the botanical garden to explore and enjoy!
- ADS Daffodil Display Garden: The American Daffodil Society has recognized Cheekwood’s ADS Daffodil Display Garden as ADS-approved since 2008. You can witness plenty of flowery beauty here.
- Bracken Foundation Children’s Garden: Towards the east of Cheekwood is the Bracken Foundation Children’s Garden. This two-acre garden features a turtle pond and other interactive features on a long walkway.
- Anne & Monroe Carell Jr. Family Sculpture Trail: Since 1999, the Anne & Monroe Carell Jr. Family Sculpture Trail has been a staple of the Cheekwood botanical experience. The woodland path stretches 1.5 miles and features stunning sculptures along the way.
- Robinson Family Water Garden: The three ponds across the Cheekwood botanical gardens are known as the Robinson Family Water Garden. The water garden is surrounded by perennials.
- Rose Study Garden: The latest addition to the Cheekwood botanical gardens is 2016’s Rose Study Garden. Created by the Nashville Rose Society, you can see more than 60 types of roses.
- Burr Terrace Garden: An older feature built in 1972, the Burr Terrace Garden has Italian garden inspiration. The tri-level enclosed garden showcases a foundation, an armillary bed, and annuals.
- Turner Seasons Garden: With unique plant collections, an appealing rain basin, and a garden room that displays seasonal greenery, the Turner Seasons Garden is worth returning to again and again to see what’s growing.
- Wills Perennial Garden: Jesse Wills, an author and iris breeder, is the namesake of the Wills Perennial Garden. The best time to check out this part of the botanical gardens is during the summer, as you can see ornamental grasses, rudbeckias, sunflowers, salvias, and asters.
- Blevins Japanese Garden: David Harris Engel created Cheekwood’s Blevins Japanese Garden or Shomu-en, which translates to “pine-mist forest.” Surrounded by authentic Japanese plants, the garden also features breathtaking canyon views.
- Herb Study Garden: The Herb Study Garden, established in 1983, has seven sections that are each themed. They include early Tennessee colonist herbs, an annual display bed, and blue flowered herbs with silver and gray foliage.
- Carell Dogwood Garden: If you love dogwoods, then you can’t miss the Carell Dogwood Garden. Installed in 1982, the dogwoods here are part of Cheekwood’s Nationally Certified Collection.
- Bradford Robertson Color Garden: You won’t crave color after strolling through the Bradford Robertson Color Garden. The plants and flowers growing here include tropical species, perennials, and annuals.
- Martin Boxwood Gardens: Part of the original Cheekwood home, the Martin Boxwood Gardens were designed in the 1920s. You can take in sights like a stone grotto, fountains, pools, and a wooded stream.
- Sigourney Cheek Literary Garden: Named after Sigourney Cheek, this literary garden opened in 2012. The imagery featured here, although maybe unconventional, is a dedication to Sigourney and the things she loved.
- Howe Garden: The Howe Garden came to the Cheekwood estate after Core Howe dedicated it. The variety of plants and flowers here is impressive, featuring paw-paw trees, ferns, Virginia bluebells, trout lilies, trilliums, and azaleas.
Art and Exhibits
If you want to check out artistic wonders from Nashville, the Cheekwood Estate & Gardens is calling your name. Here’s an overview of what you might be able to see.
- Rotating exhibits: On the Historic Mansion & Museum’s second floor, you can find both rotating and permanent exhibits. The former makes it worth planning a repeat visit to Cheekwood!
- Outdoor sculpture collection: The Anne & Monroe Carell Jr. Family Sculpture Trail, as we mentioned before, features a permanent collection of beautiful outdoor sculptures, many of which the Cheekwood staff themselves commissioned.
- The Cheekwood Collections: The Cheekwood Collections include books, silver, textiles, furniture, paintings, and arts that belonged to the members of the Cheek family. Now you can see it all for yourself, including portraits from Andy Warhol, sculptures from William Edmondson, and impressions from Childe Hassam.
Music and Festivals
Every Thursday night beginning on May 5th until October 27th is Cheekwood’s Thursday Night Out. You can enjoy live musical performances, wellness classes, lawn games, spirits, and food. The gardens are also open for sunset strolls.
The event starts at 5 p.m. every Thursday until 9 p.m.
Seasonal festivals are also on the agenda here, including the following:
- Holiday LIGHTS: Cheekwood Estate & Gardens illuminates beautifully during the Holiday LIGHTS event. Walk through the gardens, snack at the s’mores pit, spot real reindeer, and witness a mile of dazzling holiday lights!
- Cheekwood Harvest: The premier autumnal event in Nashville is the Cheekwood Harvest. Featuring a Pooch Parade, a Japanese moon viewing, the Cheekwood beer garden, mums everywhere you look, and two homes decorated entirely with pumpkins, you won’t want to miss it!
- Summertime at Cheekwood: Besides the weekly Thursday Night Out event, Summertime at Cheekwood also features the African American Cultural Family Celebration, the Dog Nights of Summer, the Under the Stars concert series, and Thirsty Third Thursdays.
- Cheekwood in Bloom: The only place in Nashville to see 250,000 flowers in bloom at all once is the Cheekwood in Bloom event. From dogwoods to redbuds, magnolias, daffodils, hyacinths, crocus, and snowdrops, nature will be alive around you!
Can You Rent Space at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens? For What Events?
If you want a little piece of the Cheekwood Estate & Gardens for yourself (for a limited time, of course), you can rent part of the estate for all sorts of events. Let’s take a closer look now.
Proposals
If you’re going to propose, Cheekwood Estate & Gardens could be the perfect place for it. That’s why they offer a Daytime Proposal Package.
In the package, which is available on Tuesdays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., you get general admission tickets, a mini bottle of champagne, two branded champagne flutes with the Cheekwood name, and a dual estate membership.
Plus, Cheekwood will help you contract a professional photographer who will be available for three hours to take photos on the grounds.
The Daytime Proposal Package costs $350.
Meetings and Corporate Events
Be the best boss ever when you host a meeting or corporate event at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens.
With your rental, you gain access to built-in audiovisual equipment, a 10-percent discount at the gift shops, free admission to the Historic Mansion & Museum and the botanic gardens, self-parking, on-site security, and an on-site event supervisor.
Weddings
Weddings at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens are very popular, and it only takes visiting the grounds once to see why!
Having won the 2020 Best of Nashville by the Hughston Clinic readers’ poll and being featured in Martha Stewart Weddings in 2020, Cheekwood is wedding-ready. You can also elope here.
The wedding rental package includes 250 folding chairs (or fewer for smaller weddings), vendor referrals, a ceremony rehearsal, access to the grounds for engagement and bridal portraits before the wedding, an event supervisor, self-parking, and Cheekwood membership.
You can get married at the following Cheekwood locales:
- Frist Learning Center Courtyard (up to 220 people for a seated reception)
- Frist Learning Center Lawn (up to 300 people for a seated reception)
- Historic Mansion & Museum (up to 250 people for a seated reception)
- Massey Hall (up to 250 people for a seated reception or 400 people for a cocktail reception)
- Burr Terrace Garden (35 people for a seated reception)
- Blevins Japanese Garden (50 people for a seated reception)
- The Herb Garden (up to 120 people for a seated reception)
- Howe Garden (up to 175 people for a seated reception)
- Loggia (35 people for a seated dinner, 60 people for a cocktail reception, or 60 people for a wedding ceremony)
- Wisteria Arbor (30 people for a seated dinner, 75 people for a cocktail reception, or 50 people for a wedding ceremony)
- The Reflecting Pool (up to 120 guests for a seated reception)
- Wills Perennial Garden (up to 250 people for a seated reception)
How Much Does Entry into Cheekwood Estate & Gardens Cost?
Your interest is piqued, but how much does a day of fun and exploration at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens Cost?
If you’re just going to the gardens, an adult ticket costs $20, a senior ticket (those 65 years and older) is $18, a student ticket (with ID) is $16, youth tickets (for those ages three through 17) cost $13, and kids two and under get in free.
By adding mansion access to your ticket, it now costs $25 for an adult, $23 for a senior, $21 for a student, and $18 for youths. It’s still free for kids two and under to get in.
If you plan on coming back to Cheekwood Estate & Gardens, especially often, you might want to consider a membership.
Individual membership costs $65 a year. If you want to add a guest to your membership, then you’d pay $90 per year.
The individual membership with two guests costs $115 a year.
Dual membership for two people (no guests) is $90 a year. Adding one extra guest raises the price to $115 per year. Dual membership with two guests costs $140 a year.
Family memberships for one adult and a grandchild or child 17 or under start at $90 per year, and a family plus one membership is $115 a year. A family membership with two guests is $140 per year.
You can also choose a family two membership, which includes membership to Cheekwood for two adults and one grandchild or child who’s 17 or under. That costs $110 a year.
A family two plus one guest membership is $135 per year and a family two (plus two guests) membership costs $160 annually.
You can also join three societies as a contributing member.
The Magnolia Society grants you Cheekwood access for two named adults, grandchildren or children who are 17 or younger, and two unnamed guests. You have complimentary Spring Art Hop access. The membership costs $250 per year.
The Dogwood Society membership includes two named adults, grandchildren or children who are 17 or under, and two unnamed guests as well as an invitation to the Martin Shallenberger Artist-in-Residence reception every year. The membership is $500 a year.
The Boxwood Society membership is for two named adults, grandchildren or children who are 17 or under, and two unnamed guests. You can preview the Holiday LIGHTS festivities before they’re open to the general public. The membership is $1,000 a year.
Where Is Cheekwood Estate & Gardens?
Cheekwood Estate & Gardens is located at 1200 Forrest Park Drive, Nashville, Tennessee 37205.
The hours are 9 a.m. through 5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday. Cheekwood is closed every New Year’s Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, June 4th, and Mondays.
Should You Visit Cheekwood Estate & Gardens?
Now comes the question I’m sure you’ve been waiting for. Should you and your family stop by Cheekwood Estate & Gardens?
If you’re into botanical gardens, sculptures, museums, and art, then yes! You’ll have an enriching cultural experience unlike anything else you’ll find in Nashville. Plus, you have a unique opportunity to take in a piece of the city’s expansive history.
There’s a little something for everyone at Cheekwood, and you have plenty of reasons to visit no matter the season.
In the winter, you can see the Holiday LIGHTS exhibit, which will certainly put you in the holiday spirit.
In the spring, the flowers and greenery come alive, and in the summer, everything is in bloom in stunning fashion.
By autumn, Cheekwood is celebrating the fall harvest with pumpkins and mums galore!
Plus, with ever-changing exhibits, there’s plenty to do indoors as well!
Final Thoughts
Cheekwood Estate & Gardens is a Nashville botanic garden and museum. It’s a gorgeous attraction and one of the city’s most popular for weddings and corporate meetings and events.
If you hadn’t heard of Cheekwood, I hope this guide inspires you to visit!