April 26, 2022 marked the 200th birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted — author, journalist, public official, urban planner and founder of American landscape architecture.
Olmsted and his successor firms designed thousands of landscape projects across the country, including those in Greenwich, Connecticut. His democratic vision of public parks and their capacity to bring communities together is more important than ever.
On Friday evening, October 14, 2022, a 200th birthday celebration will be held in Greenwich, Connecticut in the Second-Floor Meeting Room, Greenwich Old Town Hall/Greenwich Senior Center, 299 Greenwich Avenue for up to 60 guests, in cooperation with the Greenwich Arts Council.
The event is 6:30pm – 8:30pm.
The Olmsted 200th birthday celebration is being held in concert with Olmsted 200 and the National Association for Olmsted Parks, Washington, D.C.
Initial sponsorship of the Olmsted 200 birthday celebration has been provided by Greenwich-based Site Design Associates.
Mr. Jeffrey Bingham Mead, a direct descendant of Greenwich’s 17th century founders, historian, educator and host/producer of the Greenwich, A Town For All Seasons Show Podcast, will be hosting the evening’s celebrations.
(GreenwichATownForAllSeasons.Blogspot.com)
The evening’s guest speaker is Matt Bernard, author of Victorian Summer: The Historic Houses of Belle Haven Park, Greenwich, Connecticut.
The Belle Haven peninsula, in Greenwich, Connecticut, is home to one of the first and most spectacular residence parks in the country. Its development occurred rapidly, and between 1884 and 1894 Belle Haven Park was transformed from scenic pastureland set above the glistening ribbon of Long Island Sound into a bastion of Victorian luxury.
Successful American magazine described the Belle Haven of 1902 as “a nonpareil spot, surpassing in beauty, while equaling in elegance, the pet of the fashionable world, Newport, and outshining Tuxedo in brilliance and gaiety.” The New York Times, meanwhile, called it “the flower garden of Greenwich, and, indeed, of the whole Connecticut shore.”
Victorian Summer: The Historic Houses of Belle Haven Park, Greenwich, Connecticut focuses on that great flowering of Belle Haven, from 1884 to 1929. The 45-year span began with Robert Law Olmsted’s storied firm laying out Belle Haven’s graceful, lamp-lit streets, and continued with the Gilded Age’s most renowned architects designing masterpieces, in styles ranging from the whimsical Queen Anne to the ponderous Richardsonian Romanesque, for the illustrious movers and shakers of the day – men who raised up the Manhattan skyline, co-founded U.S. Steel, formed Nabisco, ran Standard Oil’s domestic business, and mined gold, silver, and iron ore to supply an exploding railroad industry.
Matt Bernard will be available to sign books, and copies will be available for purchase.
Other landscape properties in Greenwich, Connecticut designed by the Olmsted firm include Greenwich Country Day School, Khakum Wood, a plan not implemented for the improvement of Greenwich Harbor and others associated with Greenwich’s ‘Great Estates’ era.
The national Olmsted 200 campaign has engaged with a creative coalition of landscape architects, design professionals, city planners, public health professionals, conservationists, community leaders, historians and educators.
Olmsted 200 is managed by the National Association for Olmsted Parks, along with founding partners The American Society of Landscape Architects, The Garden Club of America, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, City Parks Alliance, National Recreation and Park Association, The Cultural Landscape Foundation, The Trust for Public Land, American Public Health Association and The Landscape Architecture Foundation.
Early-bird tickets start at $40 each until Wednesday, October 12; $60 at the door. Student tickets $20 each until Wednesday, October 12. Additional sponsorships are welcomed.
Due to limited seating, advanced RSVP is required for admission.
To confirm your seat and for further information contact: [email protected]
Tel 808.721.0306