To learn more about us, click on our photos.

The Garden of Paradise was co-founded in July of 2007,

by Norie Huddle and Richard Wheeler.

Here’s our story.  In January of 2007, we went to Ecuador for a six–week vacation. We had NO intention whatsoever of purchasing land. Are you kidding?

Towards the end of our vacation we were told about ‘a farm near a river’ that was about to come on the market.  “It’s in disrepair but in a pretty location.” 

Curious, we went to take a look.  Within 30 seconds of being on the land, we stared at each other, our mouths open. We each had a look of sheer astonishment on our faces. This was THE PERFECT PLACE where we could live in beautiful, clean, quiet surroundings and fulfill our long-term creative dreams of making a difference in the world....

In addition to our progress in transforming this weed-covered farm into a Garden of Paradise is that in 2011, we won the first lawsuit in Ecuador (and in the world) defending the Rights of Nature. To read an article Norie wrote for Kosmos Journal about this historic lawsuit, click here.   

We’ve created 1001 Butterflies which you can read about here.

And Norie wrote her first novel, Return To The Garden, now available on Kindle. To read about it, see the reviews (all 5-star!) and to purchase a copy, click here.

Norie Huddle

Richard Wheeler