Last updated: June 5, 2024
Place
Elm Court
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
Location:
Lenox, MA
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Estate
MANAGED BY:
Privately Owned
In 1888, Emily Thorn Vanderbilt of the wealthy American family, and her husband William Douglas Sloane purchased ninety acres and spared no expense in creating their estate. Vanderbilt and Sloane hired the best architects, Peabody and Stearns, and the best landscape architects, FL. & J.C. Olmsted.
Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. and John Charles Olmsted were given over forty acres to dedicate to lawn and formal gardens. The Olmsted design includes an ornamental pool framed by an arch covered in wisteria.
Peabody and Stearns designed thirty-four greenhouses for Elm Court, where fruits and flowers would be raised for the estate. The Olmsteds designed a fountain to welcome those to the greenhouses.
In 1908, after Olmsted Sr. 's death, another prominent landscape architect would make their way to Elm Court. Beatrix Jones Farrand placed herbaceous plants and roses on the grounds, as well an Elm tree, Olmsted’s favorite and where the estate got its name. Much like the Elm tree at Fairsted, this one also succumbed to disease in the early 1960s.
Source: "Elm Court," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. and John Charles Olmsted were given over forty acres to dedicate to lawn and formal gardens. The Olmsted design includes an ornamental pool framed by an arch covered in wisteria.
Peabody and Stearns designed thirty-four greenhouses for Elm Court, where fruits and flowers would be raised for the estate. The Olmsteds designed a fountain to welcome those to the greenhouses.
In 1908, after Olmsted Sr. 's death, another prominent landscape architect would make their way to Elm Court. Beatrix Jones Farrand placed herbaceous plants and roses on the grounds, as well an Elm tree, Olmsted’s favorite and where the estate got its name. Much like the Elm tree at Fairsted, this one also succumbed to disease in the early 1960s.
Source: "Elm Court," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr