An assembled team set to work, led by renowned landscape architectural firm, Reed Hildebrand, referencing the original plans from the Olmsted National Historic Site and assuring the tasteful and judicious rehabilitation of this historic landscape. Dorrance (Dodo) Hamilton, is not only a figure of long-standing in the Newport community but is also admired for her support of horticultural causes (the Philadelphia Flower Show and the Newport Flower Show) and institutions (Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum). In a scenario worthy of any garden aficionado’s dream, the former garden property came up for sale, just as the adjacent neighbor was completing her new home. Bearing very classical proportions, the Garden’s signature statement was the choice of a monochromatic plant palette of shades of blues in all its incarnations – periwinkle, azure, sapphire, turquoise, violet, aqua, indigo (see the current plant list at the end of this text).īut by the 1950s, the 125-acre James estate had been divided into large house lots one of the Garden’s pergolas was even torn down to erect a mid-century modern structure, while devastating overgrowth erased any other vestiges of the Blue Garden (perhaps, though, it was this untamed vegetation that spared most of the blue tiles in the original pools and rills).Ģ012 began a new and fortuitous chapter in the life of the Blue Garden. Originally commissioned in 1913 by wealthy railroad baron Arthur Curtiss James and his wife, Harriet, the Blue Garden was carved out of vast ledge outcroppings on their 125-acre estate, gracing the highest point on this island. It was a crystalline blue day, one of Newport’s famous breezes cooling the summer air as an array of leading lights in the world of landscape architecture, garden design, land planning, cultural landscape history and The Garden Conservancy, with of course, many garden lovers, gathered for this storied garden’s formal unveiling (yours truly, below, in the color of the day). The invitation read… “to share in the celebration of the renewal of The Blue Garden” (one of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.’s notable landscape creations). It is with great respect and affection that I dedicate this blog to the memory of a friend, a mentor,and one whose “playbook” I shall continually draw from.Īugust 20, 2014. This post was originally written on March 16th, 2015 following the August opening of the garden. Her restoration of the storied “Blue Garden” may now be considered her opus. Dodo died peacefully in her sleep on April 18th. While her main residence was outside of Philadelphia, she spent her summers here since she was a child and her love of this island was touchingly apparent. Dorrance ‘Dodo’ Hamilton married vision and resources to make incalculable contributions to our Newport community.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |