Beatrix Farrand & Garland Farm
Beatrix Farrand, in California, with "Cubby," c. 1934. (image courtesy of Diane Cousins)
Locus Map Mt. Desert Island and Maine
Garland Farm Plan 2002
Garland Farm Background
Beatrix Farrand spent the last 3 years of her life at Garland Farm, and the story of how she got there, and what she did there, is the final "bookend" of an amazing life. Garland Farm was the ancestral home of Mr. Lewis Garland, Beatrix Farrand's property manager at "Reef Point," in Bar Harbor, Maine. The original homestead consists of a c.1800 cape with a small ell, a barn, and a workshop/garage. The original property was comprised of about 100 acres of fields and woods running down to the shore. Amy--Mrs. Lewis--Garland was Mrs. Farrand's horticulturist and close friend.
In the early 1950's, when Beatrix Farrand decided to end her dream of "Reef Point" becoming a public garden and horticulture and design research center, she decided to dismantle the entire property--house and gardens. Robert Patterson, a local architect and a member of the Reef Point Board of Directors, agreed to manage much of the disassembly of Reef Point, as well as design a new home for Mrs. Farrand at a different location. It was decided that a set of apartments would be annexed to Garland Farm, so that Mr. & Mrs. Garland could look after her in her later years.
Elevations of Addition, Robert Patterson 1955
Mr. Patterson designed an addition modeled on the form and mass of the original Garland house, but with all the rooms on one floor and a more generous use of interior space. A considerable amount of building materials and architectural furnishings and details--such as French Doors, windows, moldings, railings, doors, light fixtures, etc.--were incorporated into the new home, which was attached to the main Garland house by an extended ell. The floor plan consisted of two main sitting room suites with bathrooms, a library, an entry hall, a kitchen, a bedroom, and storage rooms. One of the suites was occupied by Mrs. Farrand's companion, Clementine Walter, and the other by Mrs. Farrand herself. The two suites and the library faced a new terrace garden, with French doors opening out into the space from each room--each onto a landing made by an antique mill stone (from Reef Point),
Beatrix Farrand's support team, L to R: Amy Garland, Lewis Garland, Clementine Walter and unidentified care-giver, 1958
(image courtesy of Diane Cousins)
Mrs. Farrand brought her favorite plants, favorite fencing elements, and favorite garden ornaments to build her last garden. There is an "Asian Garden" at the entrance to the Farrand wing, containing a number of favorite plants from the Far East and some native ground covers. The Terrace Garden, surrounded by low wooden fences, is divided into rectangular parterres, the most central of which (outside the Library) containing mostly heathers and lavender--two of her favorite plant types. Perennials and annuals form the other beds, with clematis and roses integrated along the fence and up the downspouts of the house. In addition to the contained gardens, a number of specimen plants were arranged around the new house, including rare (and as yet unidentified) Japanese cherry hybrids [thought to be new introductions given by the Arnold Arboretum], a Stewartia, a Metasequoia, and other trees and shrubs uncommon to Maine gardens. A small greenhouse and garden shed was built to grow annuals needed for bed fillers, and to over winter the large non-hardy potted rosemarys and lemon verbenas she liked to have outside in the summer. Many of the original trees and shrubs and a considerable amount of the perennial plants survive.
Mrs. Farrand lived at Garland Farm until her death, in February of 1959. The Garlands continued to live there until Amy Garland, as a widow, was unable to manage alone. The property was sold to Jerome and Helena Goff, in 1970, who continued to honor and maintain Mrs. Farrand's garden. Mrs. Virginia Eveland bought the property from the Goff estate in 1993 and occupied it with her daughter and grandchildren until her death, late in 2002..
The Garland Farm was purchased by the Beatrix Farrand Society on January 9, 2004.This is a critical milestone, and we continue raising funds to begin needed repairs to the house and to commission a cultural landscape report for the restoration of the gardens. A membership drive will begin in late January for the Beatrix Farrand Society. E-mail us your address (at link below) to get on the mailing list. Membership information for the BFS is available at the bottom of this website.
The Beatrix Farrand Society, formed in June of 2003, will serve as a nexus for information, research, and activites concerning Beatrix Farrand. In addition to owning and maintaining Garland Farm, future goals include the re-establishment of several important Reef Point Gardens resources: a Design and Horticultural Reference Library, a Design Archive, a Center for Internship Studies in Horticulture and Design at Garland Farm, and new educational endeavors such as newsletters and lecture programs. We have secured BeatrixFarrand.org and are building a new website and e-mail structure.
Gifts of books and archival materials have begun to come in. A complete set [18 reels] of master microfilms for the Gertrude Jekyll drawings and documents, commissioned by the Garden History Society of the UK, is the first major gift for the archive. These papers were originally part of Beatrix Farrand's Reef Point Archive, and were given to the University of California at Berkeley, where they still reside.
The august Northwest Horticultural Society enlivened its winter programs with a March lecture in Seattle, on the topic of "The Gardens of Beatrix Farrand," by garden designer Linda Plato. The event was a fund raiser for the Beatrix Farrand Society and its work at Garland Farm.
National Register Listing
Garland Farm has been entered in the National Register of Historic Places according to Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., Director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission whose staff prepared the nomination. This designation indicates that the property has been documented, evaluated, and considered worthy of preservation and protection as part of the nationŐs cultural heritage. Of the approximately 80,000 properties in the U.S. currently listed on the National Register, only about 1900--or 2.3%--are designated as significant landscapes. Garland Farm is thus distinguished. While Farrand is nationally known for commissions including Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., and portions of the Yale and Princeton campuses, there are only a few surviving examples of the more than 50 gardens she designed on Mt. Desert Island. Garland Farm was placed in the National Register of Historic Places as the last, and personally most intimate, garden created by this master landscape architect.
Cultural Landscape Report Project Launched
The contract to produce a Cultural Landscape Report [CLR] for Garland Farm has been awarded to the Pressley Associates landscape architectural firm of Cambridge, Massachusetts, which has a distinguished record in researching and restoring both public and private historic properties. The final selection was made from a strong field of five prestigious Northeastern firms, known for their historic landscape work throughout the United States. Pressley Associates exhibits a familiarity and a respect for the historic landscape of Mt. Desert Island through past CLR work for sections of Acadia National Park.
The CLR Project includes a thorough inventory of existing plantings, features, and structures of Garland Farm, and a search and survey of historical documentation. An analysis of this information will provide an historical perspective of the design of the Farrand-era Garland Farm and its significance in the landscape history of Mt. Desert Island, the State of Maine, and the nation. This intimate garden environment was the last chapter in the long and distinguished landscape architectural career of Beatrix Farrand. The CLR will also focus on restoration priorities and appropriate methods for restoring the gardens and landscape and converting Garland Farm to the educational center that the Beatrix Farrand Society envisions there.
The CLR study will take one year, and will be the base upon which garden restoration will begin in 1907. This exciting project has been made possible in large part by funding from the Barnsdale-Dabney-Henry Fund of the Baltimor Community Foundation, to whom we are most grateful. P. Chasse 4/15/06
Farrand Garden in1958
(image courtesy of Diane Cousins)
Farrand Garden in1958
(image courtesy of Diane Cousins)
Farrand Garden in 2002
Farrand Garden in 2002
Farrand Garden in winter, 2003
Axonometric view of Garland Farm, by architect Scott Koniecko and his associate Hugh Patterson, is part of a new series of measured drawings of Garland Farm contributed by this New York architectural firm.
Visiting Garland Farm: Garland Farm is not yet open to the general public, but you can visit through the Garden Conservancy website (www.gardenconservancy.org) which provides information on the Conservancy's OPEN GARDEN DAY on Mt. Desert Island, including Garland Farm and four private gardens, August 6th, 2006, from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. Guided tours of Garland Farm can now be arranged through the new docent program, organized by Emily Fuchs. CLICK HERE .....to send us an e-mail to arrange a visit
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Tax-deductible contributions for the restoration and conversion of Garland Farm may be made to "Beatrix Farrand Society, Garland Farm Fund," and mailed to the Beatrix Farrand Society, P.O. Box 111, Mt. Desert, ME 04660. New Membership form:
CLICK ON THE COUPON above for a printable version.
CLICK HERE .....to send us e-mail describing your reactions to this site, or how you might like to help us. WE ARE MOVING our website to a new permanent location: website (www.BeatrixFarrand.org) Please visit us again for the garden's current status and new programs.
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