United States. General Services Administration. Design Excellence and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Mikyoung Kim, 2009 Oct. 14-15. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Architectural blueprints made in the restoration of Fifth Meeting House in Lancaster, Mass. The church was originally designed by Charles Bulfinch.
Biographical / Historical:
Architectural firm (Boston, Mass.)
Provenance:
Acquired through Lee Farnsworth.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Worcester -- Worcester
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, photocopies of articles, and other information.
General:
Beginning work in 1949 the gardens on this five acre property were a collaboration between landscape architect Fletcher Steele (1855-1971) and owner Helen Stoddard, and most of Steele's design and plantings were maintained for the next 50 years. The site slopes down behind the house and has outcroppings of rock. Steele envisioned a descending cornucopia shape inspired by the illusion of the downward spiral he had observed in Titian's painting "Bacchus and Ariadne", and had the shape he wanted carved into the earth by bulldozers. Descending levels of lawn, flower beds, and a pond were bordered by a ribbon of bluestone planted with tufts of blue fescue. Dry stone walls planted with maiden hair ferns were built from a porous fossilized rock dug out of a dried-up lake bed in Castalia, Ohio. Two sets of steps, one from the bluestone terrace behind the house and another below a bank of roses were covered with moss. White birches were planted to draw the eye to perennial borders, and spires of arborvitae were another focal point. The Art Deco style of the garden brought together the exotic and native by blending into surrounding woodlands that had plantings of juniper, mountain laurel, azaleas, dogwood, hemlock, birch, and elm.
The current owners resolved to preserve Steele's innovative design and vision as much as possible while changing some deteriorating hardscape and plants. The dry Castalia stone wall and moss-covered steps were no longer safe and had to be replaced when the house was renovated. Bluestone was used to rebuild the terrace behind the house and for steps set on fieldstone risers, and a new low wall was built from cinder blocks with stone facing. A walkway of fieldstone set in the lawn recalled an original path. The blue fescue grass was dying off, possibly due to soggy feet, and is being replaced by Japanese hakone grass which is mostly yellow. The arborvitae had grown too tall and were out of scale, many were knocked over by a storm, and some are being replanted. However many of the perennials in the borders and beds, the white birches and the rose and azalea banks are still growing.
Persons associated with the garden include: Robert and Helen Stoddard (former owners, 1941-1999); Fletcher Steele (1885-1971) (landscape architect, 1946-1949); Matt Mattus (gardener, 1975-1980); Isabel Wheat (horticulturist, 1999- ); Robert Karski (documentation, 2016).
Related Materials:
Steele-Stoddard-McDonough Garden related holdings consist of 7 folders (119 35mm slides; 4 transparencies; 9 digital images)
See others in:
Garden Club of America Collection, ca. 1920-[ongoing].
Eleanor Weller collection, circa 1978-2006.
Rudy J. Favretti collection, circa 1950-2010.
Corliss Knapp Engle slide collection, 1969-2001.
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, Ken Druse garden photography collection
Sponsor:
Cataloging of this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Publishing, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
The scattered papers of Alice Frye Leach measure 0.7 linear feet and date from circa 1900-circa 1950. Found are artworks including an unfinished portrait and watercolor and pencil sketches, biographical material, photographs, and printed material.
Scope and Contents:
The scattered papers of Alice Frye Leach measure 0.7 linear feet and date from circa 1900-circa 1950. Found are artworks including an unfinished portrait and watercolor and pencil sketches, biographical material, photographs, and printed material.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Alice Frye Leach (1857-1943) was a painter and architect in Boston, Massachusetts. She studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School and was a founder and member of the Copley Society.
Provenance:
Catherine and Elizabeth Leach, daughters of Alice Frye Leach, donated the papers to the Archives of American Art in 1978.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
