Last updated: June 12, 2024
Place
Thornewood Castle
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
Olmsted Brothers designed many of Seattle’s original parks over a hundred years ago, with John Charles Olmsted taking a leadership role in the designs out in the Pacific Northwest. At Thornewood, the crowning achievement was a sunken English Garden, also referred to as The Secret Garden.
The walled garden is entered through wood gates over a hundred years old, with a walkway bordered by flowers and shrubs circling the entire garden. Olmsted planted wisteria, purple clematis, climbing hydrangea, and pillar roses in The Secret Garden.
Steps in the front and rear of the garden lead visitors down to a sunken area, where the central focus is a tranquil fountain surrounded by a lush lawn. The Secret Garden is where many of Thornewood’s statues are found.
In 1926, The Secret Garden was named one of the five most beautiful gardens in America, and again in 1930, this time by the Garden Club of America. Olmsted surrounded the house with spacious gardens and lawns and, despite being designed over one hundred years ago, much of his design remains intact today.
Source: "Thornewood," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Olmsted Online
The walled garden is entered through wood gates over a hundred years old, with a walkway bordered by flowers and shrubs circling the entire garden. Olmsted planted wisteria, purple clematis, climbing hydrangea, and pillar roses in The Secret Garden.
Steps in the front and rear of the garden lead visitors down to a sunken area, where the central focus is a tranquil fountain surrounded by a lush lawn. The Secret Garden is where many of Thornewood’s statues are found.
In 1926, The Secret Garden was named one of the five most beautiful gardens in America, and again in 1930, this time by the Garden Club of America. Olmsted surrounded the house with spacious gardens and lawns and, despite being designed over one hundred years ago, much of his design remains intact today.
Source: "Thornewood," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Olmsted Online