Back to Clara McLean HouseBack
Healing Garden
Clara McLean House
You can admire nature’s beauty in its purest form in The Healing Garden, nestled between the property of the Clara McLean House and the Pinehurst Greenway Trail.
Inspired by classical English design, The Healing Garden boasts traditional elements with whimsical touches. Paths lead the visitor to garden rooms with seating for quiet reflection, prayer or conversation, or to simply admire the view. For younger visitors, the children’s garden offers fun and discovery with soft green turf dotted with large topiaries and life-size chess and checkerboards. Seat walls of Tennessee Fieldstone and a secluded water feature with streams and waterfalls offer a place to “sit a spell.”
Unexpected finds will delight the visitor throughout the garden: benches tucked into secluded spaces, art pieces adorning formal areas, boulders engraved with inspirational words scattered along paths, wildlife feeders and nest boxes hidden among the plants.
Love of nature and a desire to share its benefits with others, as well as the personal experience of caring for a loved one in the hospital, led co-founders Lynda Acker and Cassie Willis to design The Healing Garden. Their talent and loving attention to detail is apparent at every turn.
Patients, families and community members are welcome in the garden daily from dusk to dawn. Visitors are asked to sign the guest book in the lobby of the Clara McLean House before entering.
For information about volunteering, call (910) 715-4220. To discuss naming opportunities within the garden, call The Foundation of FirstHealth at (910) 695-7500.
The Healing Garden at Clara's House is supported solely through the philanthropic support from the community and through The Foundation of FirstHealth.
Take a tour of the Healing Garden
For a walking tour, download a map and instructions here.
View virtual tour.
Our Healing Garden Volunteers
Bill Shore
Marilyn Otto
Kathy Johnson and Marjorie Ludwig
Sally Olsen
Steve Wilson
The Clara McLean House and its programs and services are funded through The Foundation of FirstHealth, guest donations and community support.
- Clara's House - A Community Treasure
- Guest Information - Everything You Need to Know
- Programs & Services - Patient Support Groups & Advocacy
- Our Volunteers - The Heart & Soul of Clara's House
- Healing Garden - Nature's Beauty
- Ways You Can Help - Return the Kindness
- Our History
- Stories of Kindness
- Take a Tour
- Staff & Leadership
- Patient Support and Advocacy Services
- CARE-Net & CARE Funds
- For Our FirstHealth Community
