A Genius for Place

"In this lavishly illustrated volume, Robin Karson traces the development of a distinctly American style of landscape design through an analysis of seven country places created by some of the nation's most talented landscape practitioners." "In the mid-nineteenth century Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of New York's Central Park, developed an approach to landscape design based on the principles of the English Picturesque which also emphasized a specifically American experience of nature and scenery. After Olmsted's retirement in 1897, these precepts continued to ground a new generation of American landscape architects through the next four decades, a period known as the "country place era," a time of rapid economic, social, and cultural change." "In the early twentieth century, new fortunes made it possible for wealthy Americans to commission country estates as a means of aggrandizing social status.^ These private havens also offered their owners respite from crowded cities and a way to preserve and celebrate places of distinctive landscape beauty. The commissions provided burgeoning numbers of landscape architects with opportunities to experiment with stylistic influences derived from Beaux-Arts, Arts and Crafts, and even Asian principles." "The chapters in this book trace a progression in the period from the naturalistic wild gardens of Warren Manning to the mysterious "Prairie style" landscapes of Jens Jensen to the proto-modernist gardens of Fletcher Steele. Other practitioners cov ered are Charles Platt, Ellen Biddle Shipman, Beatrix Farrand, Marian Coffin, and Lockwood de Forest Jr. The projects profiled follow a broad geographic arc, from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, to Santa Barbara, California.^ All seven landscapes are now open to visitors." "Analyzing these designs in context with one another and against the backdrop of the professional and cultural currents that shaped larger projects - such as parks, campuses, and planned communities - Karson creates a rich and comprehensive picture of the artistic achievements of the period. Striking black-and-white images by landscape photographer Carol Betsch illuminate the transporting spirit of these country places today, while hundreds of drawings, plans, and historical photographs bring the past to life."--Jacket.