Last updated: October 26, 2023
Place
Oldfields
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
Location:
Indianapolis, IN
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Estate
MANAGED BY:
Located in a part of Indianapolis that during the early 1900s was reserved for highly exclusive, wealthy estates, Oldfields is the only one still left intact. Oldfields serves as one of the best surviving examples of a County Place Era estate in the U.S.
Oldfields was built in 1912 for Hugh Landon, who was so impressed with the Olmsted Brothers’ garden design for Thomas Lamont’s Maine estate, he hired firm member Percival Gallagher to redesign the gardens.
From 1920 to 1925, Gallagher designed a unified mix of formal and informal garden features. A wild garden in a deep ravine was planted with flowering trees, shrubs, and perennials, all along a rock lined river.
What was once home to some of the most influential business leaders in Indianapolis, Oldfields is now part of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and is one of the most highly significant landscape designs in the area.
Oldfields was built in 1912 for Hugh Landon, who was so impressed with the Olmsted Brothers’ garden design for Thomas Lamont’s Maine estate, he hired firm member Percival Gallagher to redesign the gardens.
From 1920 to 1925, Gallagher designed a unified mix of formal and informal garden features. A wild garden in a deep ravine was planted with flowering trees, shrubs, and perennials, all along a rock lined river.
What was once home to some of the most influential business leaders in Indianapolis, Oldfields is now part of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and is one of the most highly significant landscape designs in the area.