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The author presents a compelling story about the decline and rebirth of a 100-year-old garden.
List of contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Context for the Blue Garden
Chapter 2: The Estate on Beacon Hill: The Owners
Chapter 3: The Estate on Beacon Hill: The Designers
Chapter 4: The Estate on Beacon Hill: Construction
Chapter 5: Formality with Distinction: The "Blue Garden"
Chapter 6: Celebrating the Garden
Chapter 7: Years of Decline
Chapter 8: A New Era; Photographic Essay by Millicent Harvey and Marianne Lee
Endnotes
Bibliography
List of Illustrations
Index
About the author
Arleyn A. Levee is a landscape historian and preservation consultant specialising in research concerning the Olmsted firm. She received degrees from Wellesley College, Harvard University, and a Certificate from the Radcliffe Seminars Program in Landscape Design. For decades she has worked with national nonprofit groups to advocate for enlightened rehabilitation and stewardship of America's historic landscape legacy. Sarah Vance is Director of the Blue Garden, and was part of the design team that developed the rehabilitation plan for the garden and supervised its construction. She works with a dedicated group of gardeners to ensure the design intent of the garden is maintained while offering it to visitors as an accessible and sustainable landscape. Sarah received a Master in Landscape Architecture with Distinction from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Millicent Harvey visited the Blue Garden for several consecutive days in mid-summer 2015 to photograph the garden and its surrounding landscape. Her goal was to place the restoration of the garden within its historical context. Millicent studied at the Art Institute of Boston, and taught at the New England School of Photography. Marianne Lee works from Newport and was asked to visit the Blue Garden weekly to photograph details of the plants as they matured and bloomed. Marianne's images are an intimate essay on the ethereal beauty of each plant and flower's life.
Summary
Landscape historian Levee tells a fascinating and carefully researched narrative about The Blue Garden's origins, development, heyday, decay, and ultimate renaissance. Features historical photos, original drawings, and sketches.
