Last updated: June 12, 2024
Place
Washington Veterans Home
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
Location:
Port Orchard, WA
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Residential Institution
MANAGED BY:
When Washington State began building a new veteran’s home in Port Orchard, John Charles Olmsted, who often handled the firm’s Pacific Northwest projects, was asked to prepare a landscape design for the grounds. In his 1908 Preliminary Plan, John Charles took advantage of the site’s sweeping views of nearby waters and distant mountains, by placing the home on the edge of a steep bluff.
Wanting to provide a calming effect for veterans, a village green was created, to give the site a neighborly feel. As he would have done in a subdivision, John Charles placed the buildings around curved streets and paths. While the main residential building and cemetery are located where John Charles placed them, there is no other evidence that his plan was implemented at the Washington Veterans Home.
Source: "Washington Veterans Home," Olmsted Online
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Wanting to provide a calming effect for veterans, a village green was created, to give the site a neighborly feel. As he would have done in a subdivision, John Charles placed the buildings around curved streets and paths. While the main residential building and cemetery are located where John Charles placed them, there is no other evidence that his plan was implemented at the Washington Veterans Home.
Source: "Washington Veterans Home," Olmsted Online
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr