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The Olmsted Brothers completed numerous high-profile projects, many of which remain popular to this day, including park systems, universities, exposition grounds, libraries, hospitals, residential neighborhoods and state capitols. Notable commissions include the roadways in the [[Great Smoky Mountains]] and [[Acadia National Park]]s; [[Yosemite Valley]]; Atlanta's [[Piedmont Park]]; [https://www.vamonde.com/posts/springvale-park/8118 Springvale Park]; [[Uplands, Greater Victoria|Uplands]]; residential neighborhoods in [[Oak Bay, British Columbia|Oak Bay]], [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]], [[Oakland]], [[California]], including the street layout for what is now the Lakeshore Homes Association<ref>[http://lakeshorehomes.net Lakeshore Homes Association]</ref> (the oldest [[homeowners' association]] west of the Mississippi River and which includes parts of Oakland's historic [[Crocker Highlands]] and [[Trestle Glen]] neighborhoods) and [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]] (including parts of [[Mayfield, Baltimore|Mayfield]] and [[Roland Park, Baltimore|Roland Park);]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Our History |url=http://lakeshorehomes.net/about/history |website=Lakeshore Homeowner's Association |publisher=Lakeshore Homeowner's Association |access-date=March 14, 2020}}</ref> entire park systems in cities such as [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]], [[Cleveland Metroparks|Cleveland]], [[Olmsted Portland park plan|Portland]], [[Seattle]];<ref name="williams">{{cite news| url=http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19990502&slug=2958185| work=The Seattle Times| author=David B. Williams| title=The Olmsted Legacy -- The Fabled Massachusetts Landscape Firm Got To Seattle Early, And That Has Made All The Difference |publisher=seattletimes.com |date=May 2, 1999| access-date=April 11, 2012}}</ref> and Washington state's [[Northern State Hospital]]. The Olmsted Brothers also co-authored, with [[Harland Bartholomew]], a 1930 report for the [[Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce]] entitled "Parks, Playgrounds, and Beaches for the Los Angeles Region" encouraging the preservation of outdoor public space in southern California.<ref name="edenbydesign">{{cite book|author1=Hise, Greg |author2=Deverell, William | title=Eden by Design: The 1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew Plan for the Los Angeles Region| publisher=University of California Press |date=June 7, 2000 |isbn=978-0-520-22415-5}}</ref> The report was largely ignored by the city, but became an important urban planning reference. In addition to these higher profile projects, the Olmsted Brothers took on projects beautifying residential areas.{{cn|date=May 2020}}
The Olmsted Brothers completed numerous high-profile projects, many of which remain popular to this day, including park systems, universities, exposition grounds, libraries, hospitals, residential neighborhoods and state capitols. Notable commissions include the roadways in the [[Great Smoky Mountains]] and [[Acadia National Park]]s; [[Yosemite Valley]]; Atlanta's [[Piedmont Park]]; [https://www.vamonde.com/posts/springvale-park/8118 Springvale Park]; [[Uplands, Greater Victoria|Uplands]]; residential neighborhoods in [[Oak Bay, British Columbia|Oak Bay]], [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]], [[Oakland]], [[California]], including the street layout for what is now the Lakeshore Homes Association<ref>[http://lakeshorehomes.net Lakeshore Homes Association]</ref> (the oldest [[homeowners' association]] west of the Mississippi River and which includes parts of Oakland's historic [[Crocker Highlands]] and [[Trestle Glen]] neighborhoods) and [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]] (including parts of [[Mayfield, Baltimore|Mayfield]] and [[Roland Park, Baltimore|Roland Park);]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Our History |url=http://lakeshorehomes.net/about/history |website=Lakeshore Homeowner's Association |publisher=Lakeshore Homeowner's Association |access-date=March 14, 2020}}</ref> entire park systems in cities such as [[Birmingham, Alabama|Birmingham]], [[Cleveland Metroparks|Cleveland]], [[Olmsted Portland park plan|Portland]], [[Seattle]];<ref name="williams">{{cite news| url=http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19990502&slug=2958185| work=The Seattle Times| author=David B. Williams| title=The Olmsted Legacy -- The Fabled Massachusetts Landscape Firm Got To Seattle Early, And That Has Made All The Difference |publisher=seattletimes.com |date=May 2, 1999| access-date=April 11, 2012}}</ref> and Washington state's [[Northern State Hospital]]. The Olmsted Brothers also co-authored, with [[Harland Bartholomew]], a 1930 report for the [[Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce]] entitled "Parks, Playgrounds, and Beaches for the Los Angeles Region" encouraging the preservation of outdoor public space in southern California.<ref name="edenbydesign">{{cite book|author1=Hise, Greg |author2=Deverell, William | title=Eden by Design: The 1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew Plan for the Los Angeles Region| publisher=University of California Press |date=June 7, 2000 |isbn=978-0-520-22415-5}}</ref> The report was largely ignored by the city, but became an important urban planning reference. In addition to these higher profile projects, the Olmsted Brothers took on projects beautifying residential areas.{{cn|date=May 2020}}


The Olmsted Brothers were particularly influential on college campuses, helping to plan and design universities across the country by creating close ties between architecture and environment in the built landscape to the purpose of the institution. This can first be tied to their unimplemented work with the College of California, now the [[University of California, Berkeley]], which envisioned a campus that would be integrated with the surrounding community. Other campuses include [[Stanford University]], with a plan drawn specifically to accommodate California's climate; the [[University of Mississippi]], with a plan that would allow for future campus expansion; [[Washington University in St. Louis]]; [[The College of New Jersey]]; [[Duke University]]; [[Brown University]]; [[Williams College]]; [[Berea College]] and the Lincoln Institute; the [[University of Maine]]; [[Huntingdon College]]; and [[Denison University]]. Their portfolio also includes secondary educational institutions, such as [[Emma Willard School]] (a private girls-only secondary school in New York) and [[Lawrenceville School]] (a secondary school in New Jersey).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brookline |first=Mailing Address: 99 Warren Street |last2=Us |first2=MA 02445 Phone: 617 566-1689 Contact |title=Olmsted Designed Campuses - Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/frla/learn/historyculture/olmsted-designed-campuses.htm |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref>
The Olmsted Brothers were particularly influential on college campuses, helping to plan and design universities across the country by creating close ties between architecture and environment in the built landscape to the purpose of the institution. This can first be tied to their unimplemented work with the College of California, now the [[University of California, Berkeley]], which envisioned a campus that would be integrated with the surrounding community. Other campuses include [[Stanford University]], with a plan drawn specifically to accommodate California's climate; the [[University of Mississippi]], with a plan that would allow for future campus expansion; [[Washington University in St. Louis]]; [[The College of New Jersey]]; [[Duke University]]; [[Brown University]]; [[Williams College]]; [[Berea College]] and the Lincoln Institute; Howard College (now [[Samford University]]); the [[University of Maine]]; [[Huntingdon College]]; and [[Denison University]]. Their portfolio also includes secondary educational institutions, such as [[Emma Willard School]] (a private girls-only secondary school in New York) and [[Lawrenceville School]] (a secondary school in New Jersey).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brookline |first=Mailing Address: 99 Warren Street |last2=Us |first2=MA 02445 Phone: 617 566-1689 Contact |title=Olmsted Designed Campuses - Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/frla/learn/historyculture/olmsted-designed-campuses.htm |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 03:03, 29 March 2023

"Barberrys," Nelson Doubleday house, Mill Neck, New York, by Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1921. Architect: Harrie Thomas Lindberg (1916). Landscape: Percival Gallagher, Olmsted Brothers, 1919–1924 and others

The Olmsted Brothers company was a landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.[1]

History

The Olmsted Brothers inherited the nation's first landscape architecture business from their father Frederick Law Olmsted.[2] This firm was a successor to the earlier firm of Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot after the death of their partner Charles Eliot in 1897. The two brothers were among the founding members of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and played an influential role in creating the National Park Service. Prior to their takeover of the firm, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. had worked as an apprentice under his father, helping to design projects such as Biltmore Estate and the World's Columbian Exposition before graduating from Harvard University. The firm employed nearly 60 staff at its peak in the early 1930s. Notable landscape architects in the firm included James Frederick Dawson and Percival Gallagher.[3][4] The last Olmsted family member in the firm, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., retired in 1949.[5] The firm itself remained in operation, moving from Brookline in 1980 and continuing in Fremont, New Hampshire until 2000. This created one continuous firm from 1858–2000.[6]

Office and archives

"Fairsted"—the firm's 100-year-old business headquarters and design office—has been carefully preserved as the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, located on 7 acres (2.833 ha) of landscaped grounds at 99 Warren St., Brookline, Massachusetts.[7] It offers excellent insights into the practice of large-scale landscape design and engineering. The site also houses an archive (access by appointment only) of the firm's designs, plant lists, and photos for hundreds of projects.

Design work

The Olmsted Brothers completed numerous high-profile projects, many of which remain popular to this day, including park systems, universities, exposition grounds, libraries, hospitals, residential neighborhoods and state capitols. Notable commissions include the roadways in the Great Smoky Mountains and Acadia National Parks; Yosemite Valley; Atlanta's Piedmont Park; Springvale Park; Uplands; residential neighborhoods in Oak Bay, British Columbia, Canada, Oakland, California, including the street layout for what is now the Lakeshore Homes Association[8] (the oldest homeowners' association west of the Mississippi River and which includes parts of Oakland's historic Crocker Highlands and Trestle Glen neighborhoods) and Baltimore, Maryland (including parts of Mayfield and Roland Park);[9] entire park systems in cities such as Birmingham, Cleveland, Portland, Seattle;[10] and Washington state's Northern State Hospital. The Olmsted Brothers also co-authored, with Harland Bartholomew, a 1930 report for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce entitled "Parks, Playgrounds, and Beaches for the Los Angeles Region" encouraging the preservation of outdoor public space in southern California.[11] The report was largely ignored by the city, but became an important urban planning reference. In addition to these higher profile projects, the Olmsted Brothers took on projects beautifying residential areas.[citation needed]

The Olmsted Brothers were particularly influential on college campuses, helping to plan and design universities across the country by creating close ties between architecture and environment in the built landscape to the purpose of the institution. This can first be tied to their unimplemented work with the College of California, now the University of California, Berkeley, which envisioned a campus that would be integrated with the surrounding community. Other campuses include Stanford University, with a plan drawn specifically to accommodate California's climate; the University of Mississippi, with a plan that would allow for future campus expansion; Washington University in St. Louis; The College of New Jersey; Duke University; Brown University; Williams College; Berea College and the Lincoln Institute; Howard College (now Samford University); the University of Maine; Huntingdon College; and Denison University. Their portfolio also includes secondary educational institutions, such as Emma Willard School (a private girls-only secondary school in New York) and Lawrenceville School (a secondary school in New Jersey).[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ Beveridge, Charles E. "The Olmsted Firm—An Introduction". Olmsted.org. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  2. ^ "1898-1980: Olmsted Brothers". The Cultural Landscape Foundation. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Percival Gallagher". The Cultural Landscape Foundation. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2012-04-11.
  4. ^ "Percival Gallagher". Smithsonian Institution Research Information System: Archives, Manuscripts and Photographs Catalog. Retrieved 2012-04-11.
  5. ^ Valerie Easton (27 April 2003). "Masters Of Green". The Seattle Times. seattletimes.com. Retrieved 2012-04-11.
  6. ^ Filler, Martin (November 5, 2015). "America's Green Giant". New York Review of Books. 62 (17): 16. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  7. ^ Zaitzevsky, Cynthia. Fairsted: A Cultural Landscape Report for the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site. Internet Archive. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  8. ^ Lakeshore Homes Association
  9. ^ "Our History". Lakeshore Homeowner's Association. Lakeshore Homeowner's Association. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  10. ^ David B. Williams (May 2, 1999). "The Olmsted Legacy -- The Fabled Massachusetts Landscape Firm Got To Seattle Early, And That Has Made All The Difference". The Seattle Times. seattletimes.com. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
  11. ^ Hise, Greg; Deverell, William (June 7, 2000). Eden by Design: The 1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew Plan for the Los Angeles Region. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-22415-5.
  12. ^ Brookline, Mailing Address: 99 Warren Street; Us, MA 02445 Phone: 617 566-1689 Contact. "Olmsted Designed Campuses - Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

External links

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