A garden graced with sculptures that hosts weddings

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There’s even a kitchen in the roomy wing so that brides can take their time preparing for their special day and chefs can prepare for the after-wedding receptions that also are held in the Love Garden.

Elimo and Phillda Njau have witnessed many weddings in their spacious and super-green garden over the years. Their Love Garden has been a special favourite since it’s not only surrounded with deep green shrubs, a thick bamboo patch and several striking stone sculptures all hand made by Kenyan artists.

The Love Garden is also situated right next to Paa ya Paa Art Centre that was built by Mr Njau especially to house visiting artists who come from all over Africa and the rest of the world to attend workshops and imbibe the creative climate at Paa ya Paa.

There’s even a kitchen in the roomy wing so that brides can take their time preparing for their special day and chefs can prepare for the after-wedding receptions that also are held in the Love Garden.

But then on the other side of the drive way is an even more spacious grassy ground where slightly bigger weddings are held. That part of the Njaus garden is more of a forest than a manicured space, but the leafy green indigenous trees provide a wonderful canopy to keep weddings and other artistic events cool and fresh, even on hot sunny days.

One of the major attractions of the grounds is the 12-foot tall cement and steel wire sculpture of a Mau Mau Freedom Fighter constructed by the late Samwel Wanjau.

Originally, Wanjau had been commissioned by Kenya’s former Attorney-General Charles Njonjo to create a sculpture to stand in front of the Parliament, but when Mr Njonjo saw the ferocity and size of Mr Wanjau’s freedom fighter, he refused to honour his agreement with the artist.

As Wanjau had created his Mau Mau man in Mr Njau’s, the sculpture never moved. Neither did the miniature Mau Mau which still stands in the Love Garden and is one of the major attractions of the space.

The Njaus initially moved to their overgrown Ridgeways location in the early 1970s. The old colonial stone house, situated on five acres of mostly indigenous forest land was previously owned by Oxford University Press. The Njaus also grow fruits, vegetables, spices and multi-coloured flowers.