What’s Out There® Weekend (WOTW) Baltimore will bring to light the local character of the city as reflected by its publicly accessible parks, gardens, plazas, cemeteries, neighborhoods, and historic sites. From the city’s founding in the eighteenth century to its twentieth century Inner Harbor development, Baltimore has a rich and significant cultural landscape legacy, shaped by myriad individuals, communities, and practitioners. For specific details visit https://www.tclf.org/whats-out-there-weekend-baltimore
Working in collaboration with myriad local partners, The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) will make visible and instill value in the places that make the region unique and engage the public to promote their sustained stewardship and interpretation. WOTW Baltimore will engage a large and diverse audience (typically 1,000+), offering two days of free, expert-led tours, encouraging participants to discover the little-known design history of places they may pass every day.
Register now with The Cultural Landscape Foundation to explore this exceptional 2.4-acre property with rolling meadows and surrounded by a densely forested perimeter. This landscape includes a long, winding driveway, sunny perennial gardens, and elegant granite steps. The exclusive tour will be led by Michelle Crowley, principal of Crowley Cottrell, Architect Kelly Ennis Connellan of Jill Neubauer Architects, and Botanica Fine Gardens Meadow Consultant/Installation, Ed Kutchmanich. The exact address is only shared with ticket purchasers for privacy reasons. Please reach out to claudia@tclf.org if you have any questions.
What’s Out There® Weekend (WOTW) Cleveland will bring to light the local character of the city as reflected by its publicly accessible parks, gardens, plazas, cemeteries, memorials, and neighborhoods. The region boasts more than 24,000 acres of publicly accessible green space, including a National Park, several scenic reservations, seminal landscapes designed by the Olmsted firm, A.D. Taylor, Ernest Bowditch, and others, and exciting contemporary projects enlivening the city’s center. In addition to significant works of landscape architecture, the area possesses a rich diversity of cultural landscapes, including several sites included in the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, such as Lake View and Erie Street Cemeteries.
Working in collaboration with myriad local partners, The Cultural Landscape Foundation will make visible and instill value in the places that make the region unique, and engage the public to promote their sustained stewardship. WOTW Cleveland will engage a large and diverse audience (typically 1,000+), offering two days of free, expert-led tours of up to 30 sites, encouraging participants to discover the little-known design history of places they may pass every day. For more information, and registration, visit https://www.tclf.org/whats-out-there-weekend-cleveland
The Cultural Landscape Foundation will host a Garden Dialogues event on October 1 from 11 – 12:30 at Woodland Pond in Roxbury, Connecticut. Nestled in the hills of Litchfield County, the 11-acre property was the vacation destination for family members and friends. With retirement and extended visits on the horizon, it was time to modernize a deteriorating house and landscape to suit the needs and desires of the homeowners, their kids, and grandkids.
The pond and adjacent wetland areas greet the visitors upon arrival as they ascend to the new house. The landscape architect embraced the existing woodland natural aesthetic in developing the overall landscape site plan. Traditional lawn expanses were planted out with native species and meadow zones, while lawn terraces were selectively incorporated for designated play areas.
Initial design conversations with the clients revealed their love and appreciation for the property, but frustration for the current lack of accessibility. The existing multi-level house required ascending a flight of steep steps, and the driveway was difficult to navigate in New England winters. The outdated pool and pool cabana a top another hill, was impossible to ascend by certain older family members.
Selective site grading and siting of the main residence by the landscape architect resulted in a better fit, taking advantage of the mature existing trees, and providing ample space for the pool and entertainment terraces atop the main flat plateau. Positive collaboration with the project architect helped modify the overall house footprint and eliminate the need for a separate pool cabana. The lawn play terrace was reallocated to the upper old pool area and surrounded by meadow and plantings.
This Garden Dialogue will be led by Louis Fusco from Louis Fusco Landscape Architects. All events will be subject to local guidelines on gatherings, including social distancing, wearing face coverings, and stay-at-home orders. Attendance is limited, not only to maximize the safety of those attending but to promote an intimate learning experience. If this event needs to be postponed to comply with local ordinances, registrants will be notified directly. To purchase tickets, click HERE.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) in conjunction with the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Conference on Landscape will host a daylong excursion on Friday, November 11, in Sonoma, California. TCLF’s annual, curated excursions to exceptional examples of landscape architecture and design are eagerly anticipated, extremely popular, and always sell out months in advance.
TCLF’s annual excursion in Sonoma will be memorable for its sweeping historic narrative of the region’s most significant cultural landscapes and the depth of knowledge that visitors will be afforded by guides. Complementing the excellent destinations will be exquisite food and wine.
The day begins at the Donnell Garden, a postwar masterpiece of Modernism that architectural historian Marc Treib suggests is “the most famous garden of the twentieth century.” We will be hosted by the owners Sandra Donnell and Justin Faggioli. Designed by landscape architect Thomas Church, with Lawrence Halprin and architect George Rockrise, the garden, with its iconic kidney-shaped pool, came to define California living. Completed in 1948, the garden was soon famous for its unusual, abstracted forms, and remains one of the best-preserved examples of its time. Frequently photographed, it came to stand for a modern style of California living that took place both indoors and outdoors, with fluid transitions between these equally important places.
Fourth generation Californian farmers and brothers Adam and Andrew Mariani founded Scribe Winery in 2007 on a 200-acre property that they say, “pioneered pre-prohibition Sonoma Valley winemaking,” but had been abandoned for 20 years. The brothers brought in Alain Peuroi and David Godshall with the landscape architecture firm Terremoto. As Godshall recently told Gardenista: “We planted a wild garden that will be a place where landscape ecologies meet. Coast live oaks are confronted by palms, artichokes run wild, native buckwheat will stumble into twining white roses, and dune grasses will sweep into the edible garden.” The result is “a microcosmic daydream” of Northern California.
After lunch attendee will experience a private tour of Sonoma Plaza, which became a National Historic Landmark in 1961. This eight-acre Plaza, laid out in 1835 by Mexican General Mariano Vallejo (who also founded Sonoma), was the site of a revolt in 1846 that resulted in the founding of the Republic of California. Today it features shops, galleries, restaurants, and Sonoma City Hall.
The tour excursion next goes to Hudson Ranch and Vineyard, a 200-acre site situated deep in the heart of the rolling hills of Napa Valley’s Carneros District, which its owners describe as their “agrarian dream.” The ranch produces world-class wine grapes for exceptional wines and Tuscan olives for verdant oil, raises heritage breed pigs, lamb and chickens, and grows a diverse array of seasonal fruits and vegetables for its grocery store.
The excursion will conclude at Buena Vista Winery, which according to landscape architects Surfacedesign, “played a pivotal role in the establishment of European grapes in Sonoma and the early development of the California wine industry.” The site includes two original stone buildings, a hedge maze under canopies of heritage oak, a series of terraces and outdoor rooms, and a new forecourt of intricately patterned cobble. And, yes, a lot of wine.
What’s Out There® Weekend – St. Louis and the Missouri River Valley will bring to light the unique landscape legacy and local character of the city as reflected by its publicly accessible parks, gardens, plazas, cemeteries, memorials, and neighborhoods. Working in collaboration with Magnificent Missouri and myriad local partners, WOT St. Louis will engage a large and diverse audiences (typically 1,000+), offering two days of free, expert-led tours of more than two dozen sites that demonstrate the region’s diverse cultural landscape legacy, encouraging participants to discover the little-known design history of places they may pass every day. The Cultural Landscape Foundation is renowned for these weekend excursions and if you can carve out the time. For complete tour information visit https://www.tclf.org/whats-out-there-weekend-st-louis
Greyledge Farm’s historic farmhouse and studio began its complete restoration in 2016. The house was built in 1870, and the studio was used by John LaFarge, a famous nineteenth-century painter and stain-glass artist. Sited on just over three acres, the landscape is in the picturesque Paradise Valley and has been a subject for generations of artists, including LaFarge, William Trost Richards, and John Frederick Kensett.
Katherine Field and Associates’ project scope includes the entire three acres and was implemented over several years. The clients are passionate about plants and are avid gardeners. They worked closely with an arborist to preserve many of the existing trees, including the spruce grove. The intermittent stream manages invasive species, and rain gardens are opportunities for additional flowering borders to attract and sustain native species.
An existing pool was the only major element that was included in the new landscape. New wood decking created a soft surround, with several areas for pool-side relaxation. A new driveway replaced the former central entry and gave the property more parking, as well as privacy for the front porch.
Transplanted material included a large European beech, Japanese maple, large arborvitae, and dozens of shrubs and perennials. A privet hedge along Paradise Avenue was replaced with a tapestry hedge composed of a mix of native and flowering shrubs. This project shows how to create a cohesive landscape with endless horticultural diversity and allows the microclimates to speak to the nature of the created space. The design engaged the heart of the client, looking for ways to highlights the landscape’s natural rhythms and activities.
This Garden Dialogue, sponsored by The Cultural Landscape Foundation on June 25 from 10 – 12, will be led by Kate Field, Principal Katherine Field and Associates; Julia Driscoll, Landscape Designer, Katherine Field and Associates; Ray Maiello, RLA, Project Manager, Katherine Field and Associates; Greg Yalanis, Architect, Spring Street Studio; Clem Desjardins, Arborist, Stanley Tree; Laurie Sullivan, Landscape Maintenance, Schumacher; and Joe McCue, Senior Biologist, Mason & Associates.
All events will be subject to local guidelines on gatherings, including social distancing, wearing face coverings, and stay-at-home orders. Attendance is limited, not only to maximize the safety of those attending but to promote an intimate learning experience. If this event needs to be postponed to comply with local ordinances, registrants will be notified directly. $100. Purchase tickets through Eventbrite HERE.
Photo courtesy Katherine Field and Associates, 2021
Olmsted 200 invites you to join the fourth webinar in our Conversations with Olmsted series. In this series, we examine different aspects of Olmsted’s far-reaching influence on America’s physical landscape and social fabric, exploring how best to continue his legacy of parks for all people.
Parks and public spaces face more challenges and threats than ever before. In some cases, development has nearly destroyed these historic landscapes, altering them with highways, towers, and more. Unfortunately, once open spaces are gone, they’re gone forever.
In the age of the pandemic, our nation’s parks and open green spaces have served as places of healthful recreation and respite – but they are not self-sustaining, and greater use has meant greater demand for care and attention, often with far smaller budgets.
This November 30 panel discussion will be moderated by Stephanie Crockatt, executive director of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy, a member of the NAOP Olmsted Network. The panel will explore the threats and opportunities facing Olmsted parks and how to protect these natural and historic assets for future generations.
Panelists include:
Charles Birnbaum FASLA, FAAR, President, CEO, and founder of The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), a founding partner of Olmsted 200. Before creating TCLF, Birnbaum spent fifteen years at the National Park Service Historic Landscape Initiative (HLI) and a decade in private practice in New York City, focusing on landscape preservation and urban design.
Karen Mauney-Brodek, President of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. Mauney-Brodek is working to restore and improve the Emerald Necklace’s 1,100 acres. She spearheaded the Conservancy’s 20th Anniversary celebration in 2018 and is currently leading a significant revitalization of Charlesgate Park with neighborhood group Charlesgate Alliance.
Andy Mitton, Principal, The Berger Partnership. Mitton is a landscape architect, board member, past president, and nine-year member of Seattle’s Friends of Olmsted Parks (FSOP). He is currently working on the Olmsted 200 Tree Project to identify opportunities to reinvigorate Seattle’s historic parks. He was also part of a task force that compiled recommendations in a report, “Rebirth of Olmsted’s Design for Equity,” for the Superintendent, Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Seattle Board of Park Commissioners.
Register todayon Eventbrite, free,to participate in this event.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s (TCLF) annual excursion in Nashville will be memorable for its sweeping historic narrative of the city’s most significant cultural landscapes and the depth of knowledge that visitors will be afforded by guides Tara Armistead, Doug Reed, FASLA, Susan Turner, FASLA, and Thomas Woltz, FASLA. Complementing the excellent destinations will be exquisite food and refreshments including mid-morning hors d’oeuvres followed by a lunch prepared by celebrated Chef Jason LaIacona from Miel Restaurant, and an optional capstone reception. Transportation is provided.
The day begins at Fort Negley, located just over one mile south of Nashville’s downtown built on land seized by the Union Army in 1862. Constructed of local limestone by African American laborers on the crest of Saint Cloud Hill, Fort Negley was the crown jewel of the federal fortifications and entrenchments that ringed the city.
Antebellum Glen Leven Farm was part of a 640-acre Revolutionary War land grant. The Federal-style mansion (1857) is fronted by the remnants of a formal garden and carriage drive. The surrounding landscape is crisscrossed by hedgerows, stone fences and is drained by Brown’s Creek. The property is dotted with magnolias, ash, gingko, black walnut, laurel oak, and pecans, the rolling upland terrain also includes a dogwood planted ca.1883 and an English hedge maple reportedly brought from Kew Gardens in the 1880s. The farm is also the home of the Tennessee Land Trust.
Centennial Park’s origins date to the late 1700s. It was the state fairgrounds (1884-1895) and the site of the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition, which featured neoclassical buildings including a full-scale plaster replica of the Parthenon, rebuilt in concrete ca.1920. Over the past decade significant project work has been undertaken and the second phase of the master plan, now underway, involves the addition of an entry plaza with a multispecies allée, a formal events lawn, and new gardens near the Parthenon.
The excursion will conclude at Cheekwood Museum and Botanical Garden, which was originally the estate of coffee investors Leslie and Mabel Cheek who purchased the property in the late 1920s. They hired architect/landscape architect Bryant Fleming to design what is now one of the great surviving Country Place Era estates. Fleming designed a Georgian-style mansion and series of terraced formal gardens inspired by eighteenth-century English estates. In the 1950s Huldah Cheek and Walter Sharp gifted the estate to a group of civic organizations; it opened in 1960. Today, much of Fleming’s original gardens remain, alongside more recent garden additions.
Following the excursion there will be a reception at Cheekwood (a separately ticketed event). The event will include exclusive access to the Holiday lights display before it opens to the public, and a catered reception that will also showcase a presentation of TCLF’s Annual Stewardship Excellence Awards.
Space is strictly limited, and this event will sell out. Excursion tickets are fully tax-deductible thanks to the generosity of our sponsors.
Bidding Now Open for The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s (TCLF) Good Books, Good Friends Silent Auction. The collection includes more than 70 monographs and books by landscape architects, architects, photographers, and allied practitioners with inscriptions, autographs, sketches, watercolors, collages and other additions that make them unique collectors’ items. Participants include Marion Brenner, Jeanne Gang, Walter Hood, Laurie Olin, Kate Orff, Michael Van Valkenburgh, Peter Walker, and dozens of others. There are also rare works by Lawrence Halprin, Elizabeth deForest, Thomas Church, A.E. Bye, James Rose, and more. Bid Now through March 15, 2021. Proceeds benefit TCLF’s education and advocacy initiatives.
