Object Details
- General
- The garden and house were first designed in 1939 on a flat 3/4 acre property in San Marino, a small suburb of Los Angeles 30 miles from the coast. The area has a Mediterranean-like climate that receives approximately 14 inches of rain per year, in the winter only. Original to the front is a large lawn with Viburnum suspensum hedges on each side. Past the driveway, original concrete blocks surround the courtyard, and continue around both sides of the house and the perimeter of the rear garden. The original rear garden was mostly lawn, edged by a narrow path, hedges of Viburnum suspensum and an assortment of trees, including three large Quercus agrifolia, the coast live oak most common to this area. Still in existence from 1939 are the mature Plantanus ramosa (California sycamore) at the courtyard entrance. The second owners, in the 1960s turned part of the back lawn into lathe houses for their camellia collection, replacing some of the Viburnum suspensum with camellia specimens, which still exist.
- After the original owners sold the property in 1960, it was owned by a second family for nearly a decade before being sold a third time to the present owners in 1969. Since the present owners bought the property, the gardens have undergone multiple revisions by four landscape architects. In every revision to this estate's gardens, every effort was made to preserve and incorporate the very mature trees and shrubs which provide form, color and shade. While the estate has plantings in the front lawn and flanking the east and west sides of the home, the most impressive landscape features are in the rear of the property, particularly the borders surrounding the central lawn and the plantings along the 'Bouquet Canyon' stone path to the pool. In the 1970s landscape architect Chuck Hoffman designed the rear garden, emphasizing the desire for informal and naturalistic garden spaces for outdoor living around the French colonial-style house. He designed the swimming pool, two terraces, and created curving borders around the lawn, and added four Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip trees). In the 1980s landscape designer Robert Fletcher built on Hoffman's footprint, adding more distinctive plant material, installing six bullet-shaped Syzygium paniculatum to anchor the borders, and turned one terrace into a small stone patio after an addition to the house. Fletcher worked intermittently with the owners between 1985-1995. Nurseryman Frank Burkard added Phormium tenax (New Zealand flax), roses and other shrubs in the 1990s.
- Garden features at the entrance of the courtyard include an espalier Magnolia grandiflora, a four-part sculpture, "Kyoto Protocol" by Ray Meeker, which is surrounded by Ophiopogon (mondo grass), with an overhanging Olea europaea (olive) and Plantanus racemosa and a large collection of potted succulent varieties on the terrace selected by landscape architect John Caitlin in 1970 for their heat tolerance.
- Persons associated with the property include: Mr. and Mrs. M.D. Schatzman (former owners, 1939-1960); Carla Barker Hind and William O. Hind (former owners; 1960-1969); H. Roy Kelley (architect, 1939); John Caitlin (landscape architect, 1970); Charles Hoffman (landscape architect, 1972); Robert M. Fletcher (landscape architect and photographer, 1985-1995); Frank Burkard (nurseryman, 1990); Mark Bartos (landscape architect, 1999); Peter Lodato (sculptor, 1991); Ray Meeker (ceramic artist, 2005).
- Former owner
- Schatzman, M.D., Mrs.
- Schatzman, M.D., Mr.
- Hind, Carla Barker
- Hind, William O.
- Landscape architect
- Fletcher, Robert M., d. 1995
- Photographer
- Fletcher, Robert M., d. 1995
- Landscape architect
- Hoffman, Charles
- Caitlin, John
- Architect
- Kelley, H. Roy
- Nurseryman
- Burkard, Frank
- Landscape architect
- Bartos, Mark
- Artist
- Lodato, Peter
- Ceramicist
- Meeker, Ray
- Collection Creator
- Fletcher, Robert M., d. 1995
- Place
- Kully Garden (San Marino, California)
- United States of America -- California -- Los Angeles County -- San Marino
- Topic
- Gardens -- California -- San Marino
- Former owner
- Schatzman, M.D., Mrs.
- Schatzman, M.D., Mr.
- Hind, Carla Barker
- Hind, William O.
- Landscape architect
- Fletcher, Robert M., d. 1995
- Photographer
- Fletcher, Robert M., d. 1995
- Landscape architect
- Hoffman, Charles
- Caitlin, John
- Architect
- Kelley, H. Roy
- Nurseryman
- Burkard, Frank
- Landscape architect
- Bartos, Mark
- Artist
- Lodato, Peter
- Ceramicist
- Meeker, Ray
- See more items in
- Robert M. Fletcher slide collection
- Robert M. Fletcher slide collection / Series 1: Garden Images / California
- Sponsor
- A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
- Archival Repository
- Archives of American Gardens
- Identifier
- AAG.FLE, File CA358
- Type
- Archival materials
- Collection Citation
- Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Robert M. Fletcher slide collection.
- 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.
- Scope and Contents
- Holdings consist of a garden file with a descripton of the garden (18 35mm slides).
- 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.
- Record ID
- ebl-1521747727547-1521747730936-1
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