Publisher's Synopsis
Gwinn, originally the home of Cleveland industrialist and philanthropist William Gwinn Mather, remains one of the best-preserved of the American country estates created during the period leading up to World War II. Its grounds on the shores of Lake Erie retain their formal gardens, lawns, fountains and garden pavilions.;It took nearly two decades, as well as the combined talents of three of America's most influential designers, to create Mather's estate: architect Charles Platt, who adapted the Palladian villa and garden to American settings; Warren Manning, the country's premier plantsman, and founding member of the American Society of Landscape Architects; and Ellen Biddle Shipman, who ran a prestigious and successful landscaping practice.;The work of these three is documented here in a nearly complete record of correspondence, photographs and plant lists. The author reconstructs the complex development of Gwinn over more than 20 years, defining it as a landmark work of art which epitomizes the design principles of the period. The text includes biographical sketches of the central figures involved, and is illustrated with archival photographs as well as new images.
