Last updated: June 5, 2024
Place
Fairsted
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
Location:
Brookline, MA
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Estate
Prior to his move to Brookline, whenever Frederick Law Olmsted had work in the Greater Boston area, he would spend the night at Henry Hobson Richardson’s Brookline home. One snowy morning at Richardson’s, Olmsted wakes up, looks outside, and sees the plows already at work removing the snow. He declares “this is a civilized community. I am going to live here.”
Olmsted would purchase the foursquare style home from the Clark sisters, though neither sister wanted to leave so the two families struck an agreement. The Clark’s sold their home and 1.75 acres of land, and in return, John Charles Olmsted built them a home, free of charge, overlooking Fairsted, where they would live rent for the remainder of their lives.
A large open lawn, known as the South Lawn, provides a point of contrast to the dense planting along the perimeter, which bordered Isabella Stewart Gardner’s summer estate. Vines were meant to dominate the façade of the house, creating a sense of wilderness. Today, any groundwork done at Fairsted references historic images and plans, to keep the landscape as close to original as possible.
Source: "Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Olmsted Online
Olmsted would purchase the foursquare style home from the Clark sisters, though neither sister wanted to leave so the two families struck an agreement. The Clark’s sold their home and 1.75 acres of land, and in return, John Charles Olmsted built them a home, free of charge, overlooking Fairsted, where they would live rent for the remainder of their lives.
A large open lawn, known as the South Lawn, provides a point of contrast to the dense planting along the perimeter, which bordered Isabella Stewart Gardner’s summer estate. Vines were meant to dominate the façade of the house, creating a sense of wilderness. Today, any groundwork done at Fairsted references historic images and plans, to keep the landscape as close to original as possible.
Source: "Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Olmsted Online