An important look at 140 prominent landscape architects and their work, full of new and archival photographs--the first reference book of its kind. An absolute must for landscape architects, students, and anyone interested in the design and evolution of the American landscape. Each entry includes biographical information, a discussion of the architects' approach and methodology, and representative plans and photographs of major projects. Emphasizes vital issues in landscape preservation and ecologically sound design. 
 Excerpts from a review from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Patricia Lowry on 9/30/00: 
 "Pioneers" will quickly become an indispensable resource for anyone working in the field. Attractively designed and packed with more than 450 plans and photographs (including 100 in color), it's also just fun to look at and read ... 
 For each entry, "Pioneers" also includes a brief bibliography. The book also can serve as a travel guide; at the end is a list of sites open to the public. ... 
 At least 14 of the pioneers have surviving gardens, landscapes or parks here -- a reminder that this region has nationally significant landscapes that should be cherished and protected. ... 
 The book strives to capture not only achievements but also personality ...Birnbaum's hope is that the book will inspire academics, students and other researchers ...

Pioneers of American Landscape Design

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Birnbaum, Charles A.

Karson, Robin

Historic Landscape Initiative, National Park Service

History, Inc.

Gardening & Landscape Design

McGraw-Hill Professional

For sixty years, Fletcher Steele practiced landscape architecture as a fine art, designing nearly seven hundred gardens, from Boston to Detroit, from North Carolina to Canada. Often brilliant, always original, Steele's work is considered by many to constitute the essential link between nineteenth-century Beaux Arts formalism and modern landscape design. Published in association with Library of American Landscape History: http://lalh.org/

Fletcher Steele, Landscape Architect: An Account of the Gardenmaker's Life, 1885-1971

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

University of Massachusetts Press

In this beautifully illustrated survey, Robin Karson traces the development of a distinctly American style of landscape design through an analysis of seven country places created by some of the nation's most talented landscape practitioners. In the mid-nineteenth century Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of New York's Central Park, developed an approach to landscape design based on the principles of the English Picturesque which also emphasized a specifically American experience of nature and scenery. After Olmsted's retirement in 1897, these precepts continued to ground a new generation of American landscape architects through the next four decades, a period known as the "country place era," a time of rapid economic, social, and cultural change. In the early twentieth century, new fortunes made it possible for wealthy Americans to commission country estates as a means of aggrandizing social status. These private havens also offered their owners respite from crowded cities and a way to preserve and celebrate places of distinctive landscape beauty. The commissions provided burgeoning numbers of landscape architects with opportunities to experiment with stylistic influences derived from Beaux-Arts, Arts and Crafts, and even Asian principles. The chapters in this book trace a progression in the period from the naturalistic wild gardens of Warren Manning to the mysterious "Prairie style" landscapes of Jens Jensen to the proto-modernist gardens of Fletcher Steele. Other practitioners cov ered are Charles Platt, Ellen Biddle Shipman, Beatrix Farrand, Marian Coffin, and Lockwood de Forest Jr. The projects profiled follow a broad geographic arc, from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, to Santa Barbara, California. All seven landscapes are now open to visitors. Analyzing these designs in context with one another and against the backdrop of the professional and cultural currents that shaped larger projects―such as parks, campuses, and planned communities―Karson creates a rich and comprehensive picture of the artistic achievements of the period. Striking black-and-white images by landscape photographer Carol Betsch illuminate the transporting spirit of these country places today, while hundreds of drawings, plans, and historical photographs bring the past to life.Published in association with Library of American Landscape History: http://lalh.org/

A Genius for Place: American Landscapes of the Country Place Era

Winner, American Society of Landscape Architects Honor Award 
Named one of the 75 Best Garden Books by the American Horticultural Society 
For sixty years, Fletcher Steele practiced landscape architecture as a fine art, designing nearly seven hundred gardens, from Boston to Detroit, from North Carolina to Canada. Often brilliant, always original, Steele's work is considered by many to constitute the essential link between nineteenth-century Beaux-Arts formalism and modern landscape design.\n“A book to give for Christmas, or as the grandest of house presents; it's a book to keep as well. . . . [Karson] has written a wonderful read and, in doing so, has revived an entire era in all its detail. Intelligent, theatrical, infuriating, amusing―and loveable―Steele struts off the page, giving life to his own work.” ―Garden Design\n“Karson has done a magnificent job in integrating carefully chosen archival drawings and pictures with contemporary photographs of many gardens. Planting plans and plant lists are offered as additional information for many of the gardens with a comprehensive list of clients. We are given simultaneously a revealing account of one of America's greatest modern garden designers as well as an inspiring reference of garden-making as a fine art.” ―Public Garden\n“This is a book to be savored, to be read and re-read for enjoyment and consulted repeatedly for inspiration. The text is uncommonly readable, the descriptions of the gardens and their maker consistently perceptive and insightful. . . . [An] exceptional volume.” ―Pacific Horticulture\n“Makes available to students and teachers of landscape design a wealth of material: plans, drawings, photographs, and correspondence, as well as interviews with Steele's family, his clients and their family members, office staff and associates, and collaborators in architecture, gardening, art, and sculpture. Moreover, the text places Steele's gardens in the context of major threads of American socioeconomic history and of the development of the young profession of landscape architecture.” ―Landscape Journal

Fletcher Steele, Landscape Architect: An Account of the Gardenmaker's Life, 1885–1971

Library Of American Landscape History

In this lavishly illustrated volume, Robin Karson explores the development of a distinctly American style of landscape design. Analyzing seven country places created by some of the most imaginative landscape practitioners of the era in the context of professional and cultural currents, Karson draws a richly comprehensive picture of the artistic achievements of the period. Striking contemporary black-and-white photographs by Carol Betsch and hundreds of drawings, plans, and period photographs further illuminate their histories.

A Genius For Place: American Landscapes of the Country Place Era