Object Details
Landscape architect
Fox & Gale
Former owner
Anderson, Isabel Weld Perkins
Weld, William F.
Landscape architect
Little & Browne, Architect
Platt, Charles A. (Charles Adams), 1861-1933
Creator
Wheelwright, Edmund M.
Former owner
Anderson, Larz, 1866-1937
Collection Creator
McFarland, J. Horace (John Horace), 1859-1948
American Rose Society
Collection Citation
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, J. Horace McFarland Company Collection.
Scope and Contents note
The folders include a work sheet and copies of articles.
sova.aag.mcf_ref8968
General note
Larz and Isabel Anderson created fashionable and personally inspiring gardens on a property they named "Weld" in honor of her grandfather, William Fletcher Weld. The gardens served as inspiration for Isabel's writings of children's stories. They also evoked the history of Larz and Isabel's family heritage. During their ownership, the garden plan was nearly square, with a built-up enclosure of terrace and balustrades on the sides. A pergola stood at the end. The lowest level of the garden contained the mall and flower beds. A grove of trees shut off the formal garden from the house. Semicircular cement seats are located at each end of the 380 foot allee. Isabel left Weld to the town of Brookline for public recreation and public education. Brookline renamed Weld "Larz Anderson Park." Sited as not suited for a public facility, the house was razed and the gardens were destroyed or abandoned. The stables now house the Museum of Transportation, founded in 1949 with the Andersons' motor car collection. In 1990, an effort was attempted to stabilize the few remaining structures. Bulldozing of the grounds now makes restoration difficult.
Persons and firms associated with the garden include: William F. Weld (former owner of land); Larz and Isabel Weld Perkins Anderson (former owners, -1948); Town of Brookline (present owners, 1948-present); Edmund M. Wheelwright (architect of house, stable and garage, begun 1885); Charles A. Platt (architect of Italian garden, grove and bowling green,1901); Fox and Gale (architects of rose garden and tennis courts, 1902); Onchi San (gardener of Japanese garden, 1907); Little and Browne (architects of water garden and Chinese garden and additions to house, 1910-1916)
Place
Weld (Brookline, Massachusetts)
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Norfolk County -- Brookline
Topic
Gardens -- Massachusetts -- Brookline
Landscape architect
Fox & Gale
Former owner
Anderson, Isabel Weld Perkins
Weld, William F.
Landscape architect
Little & Browne, Architect
Platt, Charles A. (Charles Adams), 1861-1933
Creator
Wheelwright, Edmund M.
Former owner
Anderson, Larz, 1866-1937
See more items in
J. Horace McFarland Company collection
J. Horace McFarland Company collection / Series 1: Garden Images / United States / Massachusetts
Date
1903-1930
Archival Repository
Archives of American Gardens
Identifier
AAG.MCF, File MA030
Type
Archival materials
Collection Rights
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Bibliography
Garden has been featured in American Estates and Gardens, "The Garden of 'Weld,' Brookline, Massachusetts," pp. 275-277.
Garden has been featured in "The Garden of Weld," in House and Garden Vol. V. No. 3 (March 1904), pp. 105-113.
Garden has been featured in Larz Anderson, The Garden of Weld, in Architectural Record Vol. XIII. (May 1903), pp. 433-451.
Garden has been featured in Louis Valcoulon Le Moyne, Country Residences in Europe and America (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1908).
Garden has been featured in Arthur Herrington, "Weld Brookline," in Journal of the International Garden Club, Vol. III, No. 1 (March 1919)
Garden has been featured in Richard G. Kenworthy, "Published Records of Italianate Gardens in America," in Journal of Garden History, Vol. X, No. 1 (January-March, 1990), p. 31.
Garden has been featured in Richard G. Kenworthy, "Bringing the World to Brookline: the gardens of Larz and Isabel Anderson," in Journal of Garden History, Vol. XI, No. 4 (October-December 1991), pp. 224-241.
Garden has been featured in Keith N. Morgan, Shaping an American Landscape: The Art and Architecture of Charles Platt (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1995), pp. 87-91.
Collection Restrictions
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
AAG.MCF_ref8968
Large EAD
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb61ce19fd3-4ec4-4a77-ae50-5f0363db0be7
AAG.MCF
AAG
Record ID
ebl-1504732814211-1504732814903-1