Last updated: June 6, 2024
Place
Hollow
Quick Facts
Location:
Brookline, MA
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Feature
The Hollow is a lush, green, secluded area, deliberately tucked in a shaded, sunken corner between the office wing and the street. Fairsted's Hollow is a miniature version of the lyrical and naturalistic "secret gardens" Olmsted used in his designs for larger public parks. The Hollow is designed for contemplation- a hideaway in which to receive spirit and briefly forget the daily stress of life.
An early incarnation of the Hollow existed when Olmsted arrived in 1883. As with his park projects, Olmsted determined which natural or found aspects to respect, and which to change. It is possible he was referring to the Hollow when he wrote, "I don't object to the cutting away of certain bramble patches if bramble patches are to take their place...Less wilderness and disorder I object to."
The Hollow provided Olmsted with a place to practice landscape art in the "picturesque" mode- a wild, romantic, and rugged style that mirrors the site's natural topography and builds on what English essayist Alexander Pope called "the genius of the place." Olmsted graded and filled some of the irregular topography here, while respectfully adapting his design to the existing framework- to the mysteries and glories of nature.
The gentle slopes that surround the Hollow- from the vine entangled ledges to the banked plantings of trees, shrubs, perennials, and bulbs- teem with layers of greenery in various forms, textures, and values of color, with no single planting demanding attention. What one sees today reflects what journalist Hazel Collins observed in 1903: "the little dell...is planted with bushes, shrubs, wild flowers and ferns in picturesque confusion."
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