Mysticism Meets Landscape: An Ohio Artist’s Symbolic Gardens

Every garden tells a story. Nancy Drobnick’s 3‑acre riverfront property near Chagrin Falls, Ohio, reads like a fable—each installation woven from mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, and personal symbolism. Since 2000, she and husband Cliff have restored a dilapidated cottage (now with 51 skylights) and built a series of metaphysical gardens that function as Jungian wonderlands.

A Personal Design Language

Drobnick’s “metaphysical design” draws from multiple traditions—numerology, Kabbalah, feng shui—crafting a unique narrative for each client. The goal: translate innermost thoughts into usable, enjoyable spaces that spark deeper conversation.

The Roji Garden & Teahouse: Infinity in Wood

Eight wood varieties build the teahouse; the numeral 8 (on its side) symbolizes infinity. The structure sits 13 inches off the ground—1+3=4, numerology’s number for “consciousness raised to a state of beauty.” Four skylights and three windows (Kabbalah’s 3 for time, space, matter) complete the code.

Meditation Pavilion: The Power of Nine

Set in a private garden, this pavilion embodies the number 9—“gestation of energy, the step before the ‘aha’ moment.” Art‑glass windows, each copyrighted with a meaning book, depict symbols like an alchemist with an owl consulting a crystal ball—not for fortune, but for soul direction.

Sun/Moon Garden: Cosmic Order

Gold award winner (APLD 2014). Flower colors represent seasonal day/night hues. A hand‑carved millstone sun stone centers seven rings (sacred number for mystery/knowledge) of reclaimed barn stones as planets. A massive stone arch at the entrance uses glacial “cosmic eggs” with striations recording ancient ice movements. An opening in the south pillar lets dawn light illuminate the opposite pillar—symbolizing the universe’s birth. Granite fossils of ancient swimmers mark evolution. An angel with a torch beyond the garden whispers, “we can always find our way home.”

The gardens are a deep meditation on going out and coming back—a personal cosmology made tangible.