United States of America -- Maine -- Hancock County -- Bar Harbor
Scope and Contents:
The folders includes worksheets and photocopies of articles.
General:
Landscape designer Beatrix Farrand (1872 - 1959) spent her childhood summers at Reef Point on Mount Desert Island in Maine, a six-acre property with distinct garden rooms that featured native plants and panoramas of trees set against the ocean vista. According to landscape historian Judith Tankard the front of the half-timbered house supported flowering vines including clematis, jasmine, wisteria and hydrangea. A stone terrace facing the water had a rose garden complimented by gray foliage plants. In the acid soil banks of azaleas grew on slopes that led to the bay. There was an informal perennial garden sheltered by hemlocks, a vegetable garden, a small rock garden, a bog plantation, a large heather garden, and carpets of ground covers including bunchberry, ferns, trilliums, and ginger. Besides areas for seating and entertaining the grounds resembled an arboretum of spruce and Asian shrubs. Farrand inherited Reef Point after her mother's death and it became her permanent home in 1941.
Circa 1939 Farrand incorporated Reef Point Gardens as a botanical garden and reference library to be used by students of outdoor life and gardening. Her own professional papers and those of English garden designer Gertrude Jekyll were made available for study along with illustrations of European gardens that had influenced Farrand, thousands of books including English herbals, a herbarium of 1,800 plant species found at Reef Point, and the garden slides of garden architect Mary Rutherfurd Jay (1872 - 1953). The center was closed and the garden was dismantled by Farrand in 1955 due to lack of funds and a dearth of visitors to the area, which is near Acadia National Park. Farrand's and Jekyll's documents were sent to the University of California at Berkeley.
Persons associated with the garden include: Mary Cadwalader Rawle Jones (1850 - 1935) (former owner, 1882 until 1935); Beatrix (1872 - 1959) and Max (1869 - 1945) Farrand (former owners, 1941 - 1955); Arthur Rotch (1850 - 1894) & George Thomas Tilden (1845 - 1919) (architects, 1883); Beatrix Farrand (landscape designer).
Related Materials:
Reef Point related holdings consist of 1 folder (10 35 mm slides; 2 glass lantern slide)
Additional materials also located in University of California, Berkeley.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
