Building the Landscape of the Northeast
Olmstead started it. But I can't help myself and veer off onto Shurcliff.
It is hard to go anywhere in the Northeast without Frederick Law Olmstead’s name popping up. His name is ubiquitous. He is at the very beginning of landscape architecture as a field. So, as a historian who has mostly worked in historic houses, it is difficult to visit any historic houses without having his name crop up.
Or that of his sons.
Let us be clear: my last place of employment was late enough that it was the Olmstead brothers who were responsible for the formal garden… and then promptly fired. Arthur Shurcliff took over the designing of Castle Hill on the Crane Estate - and in particular that massive feat of earth moving that created the Grand Alleé.
Arthur Shurcliff started his career in landscape architecture with Olmstead, Olmstead, and Eliot. While he was with them, he and Frederick Jr started the Landscape Architecture program at Harvard University - the oldest program for landscape architecture in the country. But in 1904, he parted ways with the Olmstead brothers to start his own firm.1 However, his close connections to the brothers, and the fact that he had his own summer residence in Ipswich, may have played a large roll in how he ended up taking over the contract for Castle Hill.
Shurcliff was responsible, not only for the final look of Castle Hill in Ipswich, Massachusetts, but also for Colonial Williamsburg, Old Sturbridge Village, the Charles River Esplanade, and the Franklin Park Zoo.
And yet, as prominent as Shurcliff is, it is Frederick Law Olmstead who founded landscape architecture as an idea. Spending any amount of time in New York’s Central Park, you can tell why. Having lived in New York City for the last three years, it is a place we end up at regularly. (It is also only half an hour away by subway, and when you have a toddler - well, there’s a zoo that is an easy outing away from the house right there.) It is a created escape, a place where you can get lost in the trees without ever leaving the city. Traverse the rambles, just south of the Belvedere Castle, and you’ll understand my meaning. Escape the rambles and stumble across the model boat pond, and you can sense the city around you while enjoying a coffee and staring across the water.
Is it the full escape from the city that you might need? No. Even the less densely packed sections of the park are filled with people in the height of summer. Even rainy days, while not as busy, see quite a few people braving the weather to experience the park. And that sense of activity, the fullness of the city pushing people from the built surroundings to the tree filled park, can overwhelm. You can breathe the fresh air provided by the trees, in the hope that it can restore your calm - but the city is still around you.
So, if you need a break, get on a train or hop in your car. Go north. Olmstead designed so much more. While much of his big projects (like Central Park) are green spaces within a city (such as the Emerald Necklace and Prospect Park), there are others. Following the trail of the wealthy New Yorkers of the past and take a train to the Berkshires.
Miles Howard recently posted a “tour” of Frederick Law Olmstead landscapes on his Mind the Moss newsletter, and you can use that as a jumping off point for exploring more properties. (See the link below.)
Can’t get away for a property tour? You can escape into a book! My spouse is in the middle of Architects of an American Landscape: Henry Hobson Richardson, Frederick Law Olmstead, and the Reimagining of America’s Public and Private Spaces by Hugh Howard, which he is thoroughly enjoying.
Inspired to get out now? Having recently been to another historic property on Long Island, it occurred to me that there are several names that crop up in historic properties again and again, and maybe I need to make a bingo board for next season. Architects and landscape architects of the northeast!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Asahel_Shurcliff (References double-checked.)