Nineteenth century formal American landscape Last week I drove to the Hunnewell estate in Wellesley, near Boston. Both Wellesley College, which is adjacent, and the Hunnewell garden overlook beautiful Lake Waban. Boston financier and horticulturist Horatio Hollis Hunnewell (1810-1902) designed his landscape…
Victorians flocked to summer resorts. In the late nineteenth century hotels along the water or in the mountains became a popular escape in the summer. Thomas Schlereth writes in his book Victorian America: Transformations in Everyday Life 1876-1915, "Victorian resort…
Photography enters Victorian American homes. By the end of the nineteenth century photography had developed a foothold in advertising but also was slowly becoming part of family life as well. Thomas Schlereth in his book Victorian America: Transformations in Everyday…
Victorians enjoyed genteel lawn games. Today we accept games on the lawn either in the front or the back of the house without too much question. Such fun often occurs especially when visitors arrive to spend some time. During much…
Victorian home landscape demanded flowerbeds. Flowers for a home landscape of any size were important in the late nineteenth century. Rochester, New York seedsman James Vick (1818-1882) wrote that farmers, laborers as well the middle class, anyone, could plant flowers…