| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
Italian Garden at Eolia, Waterford, Conn.
Beatrix Farrand was the only woman of the eleven founders of the American Society of Landscape Architects . She was born in 1872 in New York City, Farrand spent a lot of her time in Bar Harbor, Maine at her families Reef Point home. Farrand was an avid gardener in her younger days, and became interested in design and planning after experimenting with different sites at their Reef Point home. At a time when gardening was an acceptable practice, she regarded herself as a “landscape gardener,” rather than a landscape architect. Her family was well known socially, including her aunt Edith Wharton, whom would introduce Beatrix to many prominent figures of the time. At age twenty Farrand was introduced to Charles Sprague Sargent, professor of horticulture at the Bussey Institute of Harvard, and also the founding director of the Arnold Arboretum . Farrand moved to Brookline, Massachusetts where she lived in Sargents home and studied landscape gardening, botany, and land planning. She also learned drafting to scale, elevation rendering, and surveying and engineering at Columbia School of Mines under the direction of Professor William Ware.
Farrand drew influence in her design form her travels throughout Europe where she visited more than 20 notable designs. She was also inspired by Italian, Chinese and other landscape traditions, and often instilled these traditions in her designs. She became influenced in using native plant species from her meeting with Gertrude Jekyll. Jekyll’s book Some English Gardens emphasized the importance and value of nature.
She began practicing landscape architecture at the age of 25 from the upper floor of her mothers brownstone home on East Eleventh Street in New York. Her first design were residential gardens for neighboring Bar Harbor residents. With the help her mother and aunts social connections she was introduced, and later designed for J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and Theodore Roosevelt.
Her most notable works was at the Dumbarton Oaks estate in Washington D.C. for Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss. Her design was inspired by her European venture and Arts and Craft idiom and consisted of terraced gardens, steep slopes, and a connection between the built and natural environments. Dumbarton Oaks is often viewed as one of the best American neoclassicist garden.
Farrand also design the Eyrie Garden for Abby Aldrich Rockefeller at Seal Harbor, Maine, which drew inspiration from Chinese design. John D. Rockefeller sought out Farrand to design planting plans for carriage roads at Acadia National ParkAcadia Designation National Park Location Maine USA Nearest City Bar Harbor, Maine Latitude 44° 21' N Longitude 68° 13' W Area 47,400 acres19,182 ha Date of Establishment February 26, 1919 Visitation 2,433,493 (2003) Governing Body National Park Service I on Mount Desert Island, Maine, which was funded by him. This was at the dawn of the automobile, and she applied principles learned from Fredrick Law Olmsted’s drives at Biltmore and the Arnold Arboretum.
Farrand believed in using native plant materials to make a conjunction between the natural and designed landscape. An impressionistic view was used in her designs; the landscape was her canvas and plants were her palette. As new buildings are constructed at Princeton, architects are often referred to Farrand’s papers, which are archived at the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard.