In the Making: A Historical Estate with Janice Parker

In the Making spotlights the architects, designers, and artisans using historical precedent to address contemporary challenges. Each episode is a deep dive into a select project, revealing the unique history, environment, and human ingenuity that shaped the design process.

In the third episode, landscape architect Janice Parker walks the grounds of an estate on Long Island, and explains how she and her firm revitalized the gardens with new plantings and landscape designs while still honoring the site's historic character. Originally designed in 1913 by two women landscape architects, the property had retained numerous elements over the decades that imbued it with personality and depth: worn brickwork paths, an aquatic lily garden, and established trees including Kwanzan cherry and European beech. The re-design process, as Janice explains, presented a series of challenges that needed to be overcome, such as weighing the options of preserving historical details versus re-creating them with new materials.

The newly restored landscape draws from historical precedent and contemporary design in equal measure: a spectacular series of garden rooms featuring abundant rose blooms, sculptural hornbeams, water features that delight the ear and eye, and moments of bright color and moody shadow.

Tags: In the Making