Olmsted Historic Design Office Tour

Park Ranger Alan Banks takes us on a journey through the Historic Design Office of the Olmsted firm. The firm operated from what is now Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site between 1883-1979. Multi-talented employees created landscape designs for locations in 46 out of the 50 states in the U.S.--from Boston's Emerald Necklace and Florida's Everglades National Park to California's state parks and beyond!
Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) is recognized as the founder of American landscape architecture and the nation's foremost parkmaker. Olmsted moved his home to suburban Boston in 1883 and established the world's first full-scale professional office for the practice of landscape design. During the next century, his sons and successors perpetuated Olmsted's design ideals, philosophy, and influence.
He named his home Fairsted and here created a landscape "greatest hits" on a small scale of some of his most famous designs. The areas of the Fairsted grounds include the Carriage Turn, The Hollow, The Rock Garden, and The South Lawn.