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synopsis

Located near Wenham Lake in Boston, MA the property of John Charles Phillips was designed by the Olmsted Firm in 1880. Commissioned by the environmentalist and hunter, Frederick Law Olmsted planned to create a retreat for the prominent family while preserving the existing forestry on the site.

Located near Wenham Lake in Boston, MA the property of John Charles Phillips was designed by the Olmsted Firm in 1880. Commissioned by the environmentalist and hunter, Frederick Law Olmsted planned to create a retreat for the prominent family while preserving the existing forestry on the site. Since the summer lodge was nestled in a wooded 200 acres, he took great care to avoid designing a “poor park like place, or a farm with less farm like beauty” Rather, Olmsted proposed a “forest character with all its possibilities of pure forest beauty, and to secure the desirable convenience so that it will appear to have been found and not made. [FLO to Mr. Phillips_1881-09-27_FLOP-SF-R38_Phillips, J.C._im.20&21] The approach to the house was ultimately designed with a graded lawn and winding driveway. A main feature of the property was a stone terrace, dividing the steep grade of the hillside.

See jobs 10015 and 10016.

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