Harkness Memorial State Park
Eolia-Harkness Estate
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Aerial view of the Harkness Mansion from the kite. |
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location | Great Neck Rd., Waterford, Connecticut , New London County , USA | |
surface | 0.89 km² | |
Geographical location | 41 ° 18 ' N , 72 ° 7' W | |
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Setup date | 1952 | |
administration | Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection, Connecticut State |
Harkness Memorial State Park (also: Eolia-Harkness Estate ) is a state park in the US state of Connecticut in the area of the municipality of Waterford . The 89 hectare (220 acre) estate was originally the estate of an industrial heir and is home to a botanical garden and sits directly on Long Island Sound . A country house in the Renaissance Revival style with 42 rooms belongs to the park . It was designed by the New York architectural firm Lord & Hewlett together with Italian, oriental and cutting garden as well as various greenhouses.
history
Eolia was originally the country house of Edward Harkness , a millionaire heir whose father Stephen V. Harkness had become rich through investments in John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company . Edward Harkness acquired the site in 1907. Between 1918 and 1929, landscape architect Beatrix Jones Farrand made major expansions. Mary Harkness had her ideas implemented very precisely and hired another important landscape architect after Farrand's retirement: Marian Coffin . In 1950 Eolia became part of the State of Connecticut and in 1952 it became part of the State Park System.
In 1980, a hurricane covered the copper roof, causing major damage to the building. From 1993 to 1998 it was extensively renovated. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 as the Eolia — Harkness Estate . The complex includes 15 buildings and two other structures .
Surname
Eolia is named after Aiolos , the Greek god of the winds.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey.
- ^ State Parks and Forests : Funding, Recruiting, and Referrals. (PDF)
- ↑ Clouette, Bruce: National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Eolia - The Harkness Estate . National Park Service. April 7, 1986. With accompanying photos from 1985 and 1986
Web links
- Harkness Memorial State Park Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
- Friends of Harkness Memorial State Park
- Historic photos of Eolia interiors from the Library of Congress