Last updated: June 12, 2024
Place
Wheatleigh
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
After Henry Harvey Cook purchased two hundred and fifty acres of land in Lenox, he hired Frederick Law Olmsted to design his estate like a pastoral park. Both Olmsted and Cook’s ancestors come from Britain, and both choose to honor that heritage, with Cook naming his estate after that homeland in Wheatley, England.
Once again Olmsted would work on an estate with Peabody and Stearns, this time creating an Italian Renaissance mansion in the hills of the Berkshires, completed in 1894. The collaboration between Olmsted and Peabody and Stearns would be crucial in ensuring the home’s windows and balconies would provide sweeping views of open fields and Stockbridge Bowl.
Olmsted used a circular drive to approach the home, ending in a formal court entrance surrounded by evergreen trees, and a marble fountain at the center. A patio terrace and formal garden is behind the house, which forms a U-shape. The terrace connects to open lawns, with walking paths lined with mountain laurel, azaleas, and rhododendrons.
Source: "Wheatleigh," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Once again Olmsted would work on an estate with Peabody and Stearns, this time creating an Italian Renaissance mansion in the hills of the Berkshires, completed in 1894. The collaboration between Olmsted and Peabody and Stearns would be crucial in ensuring the home’s windows and balconies would provide sweeping views of open fields and Stockbridge Bowl.
Olmsted used a circular drive to approach the home, ending in a formal court entrance surrounded by evergreen trees, and a marble fountain at the center. A patio terrace and formal garden is behind the house, which forms a U-shape. The terrace connects to open lawns, with walking paths lined with mountain laurel, azaleas, and rhododendrons.
Source: "Wheatleigh," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr