The Crane's "Formal Garden" (also known as the "Italian Garden" was designed by the Olmsted Bros. The architects for the hardscape was the Boston firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge. The firm also designed the first mansion on the site for the Crane's in 1910-11 and they worked with the Olmsted Bros. on the "Italian Garden." Boston-area sculptor Johan Selmer Larsen also worked with the Olmsted Bros. on the garden, designing cast-stone mermaid figures atop the columns and the relief sculptures along the walls. A large figural sculpture was designed by Bela Pratt. Pratt's solid white marble "Rainbow Fountain (1916) was located in a recessed niche behind the pool area. Landscape architect Arthur Schurcliff designed the Crane's circular Rose Garden and the Grand Allee among other garden areas on the property. In 1924-1928, David Adler later designed a second mansion on the site. The Great House is the central feature of Castle Hill that was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998.
Related Materials:
Records related to this site can be found at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, Olmsted Job Number 10109, Crane Reservation.
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.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, J. Horace McFarland Company Collection.
Biographical data; awards and citations; personal and business correspondence with: Inslee Hopper, consultant to the Chief of the Section of Fine Arts; Richard T. Feller, Clerk of Works for the Washington Cathedral; and Kennedy, Kennedy, Keefe and Carney (formerly Maginnis and Walsh and Kennedy), architects for the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. and the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, Md. concerning his work at those churches; correspondence regarding his work at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the St. Thomas' Church, NYC, and others; sketches, drawings, etchings and studies for reliefs and sculpture; clippings; and photographs of Barbarossa and his sculpture.
ADDITION: Biographical data; awards and citations; military records; correspondence, mostly business but including a few letters from friends and fellow sculptors such as Richard Barthe, Walker Hancock, Thomas Lo Medico, and Heinz Warneke; writings; sketches, drawings, and etchings by Barbarossa and others; studies for relief and figural sculpture; photographs and slides of Barbarossa, others, and of his sculpture, notably of his commissioned sculpture for the New York World's Fair (1939), for several Treasury Dept. art projects in the 1930s, and for his post-WWII commissions for churches, primarily in Baltimore, Md., Washington, D.C. and NYC, and Catholic schools in Tarrytown and Yonkers, NY.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor; Belmont, Mass. Died 1992.
Provenance:
Donated 1980 by Theodore Barbarossa. Addition donated 1996 by Susan Gray Barbarossa, Barbarossa's daughter.
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.
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; bequest of Charles Francis Adams; frame conserved with funds from the Smithsonian Women's Committee
