NAP- Neighborhood Alliance of Pawtucket

Green Thumber

Nov 01, 2004

Knott?’s green thumb brings life to the city

Kevin P. O'Connor 11/01/2004

PAWTUCKET -- Alexandra Knott had a neat life plan until one day last spring, when she decided to ride her bicycle up Alfred Stone Road.

Then she came face to face with the cottage and greenhouse built by May Davis 100 years ago. There was a "For Rent" sign in the cottage window.

The Davis Greenhouse and the Knott Life Plan went nose to nose. The greenhouse won.

That?’s the short version of how Knott, 38, came to be spending her days in her store, East Side Eden, 1 Alfred Stone Road, the structure at the corner of Pleasant Street and Alfred Stone Road.

East Side Eden is dedicated to urban gardeners. It carries garden sculpture, flower pots, outdoor furniture, plants, candles, and more decorative items than it seems possible to fit into the small space.

Knott describes her store as offering "essentials for the urban gardener," but even the casual shopper will see that it goes beyond that.

"I want to create an atmosphere that is inspiring," she said. "Shopping is a drudgery. People go to a big box store, get what they need and leave.

"I want people to come in, have a cup of tea and relax."

That said, Knott adds that the big box stores were good to her.

She spent most of her career in retail. She began her work-life restoring wooden boats, but soon moved on to management jobs with Crate & Barrel and then with Pier One.

"I?’ve never owned my own shop," she said. "I worked in corporate retail for a long, long time.

"I was going to retire with Pier One. I loved the store. But then, one day, I was riding my bike, and I came across this building. I stopped."

The cottage and greenhouse strikingly attractive -- one of the prettiest buildings in the city.

The front part of the store is built in the craftsman style with shingled sides and diamond pane windows. Inside there are hardwood floors, coffered ceilings and a large, fieldstone fireplace. The cottage opens into a long greenhouse, one of the only remaining wood-framed greenhouses in the state.

The building was constructed for May Davis, the wife of John Davis, who was the founder of the Riverside Cemetery and the governor of Rhode Island until 1890. May Davis ran her flower business from that greenhouse for a generation.

Knott is continuing the tradition. In addition to supplying the home and garden, East Side Eden is also becoming a place for city residents, especially Oak Hill residents, to stop and chat, and meet each other.

"The Oak Hill neighborhood is filled with some of the most wonderful people I?’ve ever met," Knott said. "I?’m surprised that everyone has been so wonderful.

"I?’ve been in retail for 20 years. There has always been someone you just have to deal with. That hasn?’t been true here.

"Maybe it?’s the building."

The plans now are for a series of workshops in the greenhouse after the holiday madness is over.

"We?’ll do workshops on Thursdays all through the winter," Knott said. There will be workshops on Bonsai, with plants and tools for sale and free instruction on forming them. There will also be lectures on natural methods for fighting plant diseases and destructive insects.

Members of the Dahlia Society have expressed an interest in hosting a workshop. Knott is trying to book Arthur Plitt, the godfather of the city?’s neighborhood watch program, who also happens to be a dedicated student of butterflies.

The store carries handmade merchandise or goods that can?’t be found in the big stores.

"I deal with a lot of very small companies," Knott said. "I have 15 artisans from this vicinity, from Pawtucket, Cumberland and Providence."

Some of the artists who supply her are neighbors, Knott said. She and her husband, Chris Burke, live in Woodlawn.

The store is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days, and until 7 p.m. on Thursday. East Side Eden opens at noon on Sunday and is closed on Monday. More information is available at the store?’s Web site, www.eastsideeden.com.

Information about workshops and other events will be available online and at the store.

Everyone is invited in for a cup of tea, Knott said, especially her neighbors.

"I live in Pawtucket and I feel a part of the community," she said. "I?’d like to draw the city this way."



?©The Pawtucket Times 2004