| Industry | Landscape architectural firm |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1898 |
| Founder | John Charles Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Brookline, Massachusetts |
TheOlmsted Brothers company was alandscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothersJohn Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) andFrederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architectFrederick Law Olmsted.[1]
The Olmsted Brothers inherited the nation's first landscape architecture firm from their fatherFrederick Law Olmsted.[2] This firm was a successor to the earlier firm ofOlmsted, Olmsted and Eliot after the death of their partnerCharles Eliot in 1897. The two brothers were among the founding members of theAmerican Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and played an influential role in creating theNational Park Service. Prior to their takeover of the firm, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. had worked as an apprentice under his father, helping to design projects such asBiltmore Estate and theWorld's Columbian Exposition before graduating fromHarvard University.[3] WithCharles Eliot, they also designed the gardens ofCairnwood House in Pennsylvania andLady Meredith House inMontreal.
The firm employed nearly 60 staff at its peak in the early 1930s. Notable landscape architects in the firm includedJames Frederick Dawson,Arthur Asahel Shurcliff and Percival Gallagher.[4] After becoming an associate partner in 1904 Dawson became a full partner in 1922.[5] Gallagher become an associate partner in 1906 and a partner in 1927, until his death in 1934.[5] Edward Clark Whiting became an associate partner in 1920 and partner in 1927. In that same yearHenry Vincent Hubbard became a partner and remained with the firm until his death in 1947.[5] William B. Marquis became a partner in 1937.[6]
The last Olmsted family member in the firm, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., retired from active practice in 1949, but remained a partner until 1957.[5][7] The firm itself remained in operation, with Carl Rust Parker, Partridge Richardson and Charles Scott Riley becoming partners in 1950.[6] By 1958 Joseph George Hudak had also become a partner.[6]
In 1962[5] the firm changed its name to Olmsted Associates to reflect the retirement of Parker in 1960, Riley in 1961, Marquis in 1962, and the death of Whiting in 1962, leaving the firm to continue under Richardson and Hudak with Erno J. Fonagy joining them as an associate.[5] Olmsted Associates was dissolved in 1979.[6] Afterwards Richardson continued to practice under the name The Olmsted Office[5] from Brookline in 1980 and continuing inFremont, New Hampshire until 2000. This created one continuous firm from 1858 to 2000.[8]
"Fairsted"—the firm's 100-year-old headquarters and design office—has been carefully preserved as theFrederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, located on 7 acres (2.833 ha) of landscaped grounds at 99 Warren St.,Brookline, Massachusetts.[9] It offers excellent insights into the practice of large-scale landscape design and engineering. The site also houses an archive (access by appointment only) of the firm's designs, plant lists, and photos for hundreds of projects.
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The Olmsted Brothers completed numerous high-profile projects, many of which remain popular to this day, including park systems, universities, exposition grounds, libraries, hospitals, residential neighborhoods and state capitols. Notable commissions include the roadways in theGreat Smoky Mountains andAcadia National Parks;Yosemite Valley; Atlanta'sPiedmont Park; Springvale Park;[10]Uplands; residential neighborhoods inOak Bay,British Columbia,Canada,Oakland,California, including the street layout for what is now the Lakeshore Homes Association[11] (the oldesthomeowners' association west of the Mississippi River and which includes parts of Oakland's historicCrocker Highlands andTrestle Glen neighborhoods) andBaltimore,Maryland (including parts ofMayfield andRoland Park);[12] entire park systems in cities such asBirmingham,Cleveland,Portland,Seattle;[13] and Washington state'sNorthern State Hospital. The Olmsted Brothers also co-authored, withHarland Bartholomew, a 1930 report for theLos Angeles Chamber of Commerce entitled "Parks, Playgrounds, and Beaches for the Los Angeles Region" encouraging the preservation of outdoor public space in southern California.[14] The report was largely ignored by the city, but became an important urban planning reference. In addition to these higher profile projects, the Olmsted Brothers took on projects beautifying residential areas.[citation needed]
The Olmsted Brothers were particularly influential on college campuses, helping to plan and design universities across the country by creating close ties between architecture and environment in the built landscape to the purpose of the institution. This can first be tied to their unimplemented work with the College of California, now theUniversity of California, Berkeley, which envisioned a campus that would be integrated with the surrounding community. Other campuses includeStanford University, with a plan drawn specifically to accommodate California's climate; theUniversity of Mississippi, with a plan that would allow for future campus expansion;Washington University in St. Louis;The College of New Jersey;Duke University;Brown University;Williams College;Berea College and the Lincoln Institute; Howard College (nowSamford University); theUniversity of Maine; theUniversity of Rochester;Huntingdon College;Denison University; and the administration building lawn at theUniversity of Idaho. Their portfolio also includes secondary educational institutions, such asEmma Willard School (a private girls-only secondary school in New York) andLawrenceville School (a secondary school in New Jersey).[15]
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