Lakehurst and Beechcroft: Roches point, Ontario, Canada

• Autores: Susan Buggey, John J. Stewart
• Localización: Studies in the history of gardens and designed landscape, ISSN 1460-1176, Vol. 1, Nº 2, 1981, págs. 147-166
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Beechcroft and Lakehurst are two properties at Roches Point, situated on the southern shore of Lake Simcoe (figure 1). Large private land holdings, which serve as a buffer to these properties, have enabled them to survive in their 19th-century styles. One, Beechcroft, is laid out in the English landscape style. According to strong local tradition its grounds were designed by America's first landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. The garden is further believed to have been so created about 1870 during the occupancy of A.G.P. Dodge of New York City. The present paper includes a biographical sketch of Dodge, focusing on his Canadian years and his residence at Roches Point, an examination of the evidence for the Olmsted connection, and an evaluation of the existing landscape of the property. The adjoining property, known as Lakehurst, shows the influence of Olmstedian patterns but is much more in the horticultural and gardenesque tradition. The present paper provides historical information regarding that property and an evaluation of its existing landscape.