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Morristown -- Watts Garden

Smithsonian Gardens

Object Details

General
Helen Page Wodell was the original garden designer for this property, once the home of Ridley Watts and Gertrude van Epps Hoy Watts. Their son, Ridley Watts, Jr., was married to Mary Cottrell Watts. The latter was the sister-in-law of Wodell's sister and design colleague Lois Page Cottrell. Wodell's design eliminated a circular gravel driveway at the back of the house, replacing it with a stone walk/patio, a lawn, two Colorado blue spruce trees, and a cottage style border by the garage. By the early 1980s, as seen in several of the images, the site, both front and back, had become severely overgrown. For the then-current owners Lois W. Poinier created a new design for the back of the property featuring (after the removal of the spruce trees) an extensive cottage style garden, an expanded flagstone patio and walkways, and one of her signature wall fountains. Unruly vegetation at the front of the house was replaced by an orderly, enclosed space with a few shrubs and two flowering trees.
Persons associated with the property include Helen Page Wodell (garden designer, ca. 1920-1930), Lois W. Poinier (garden designer, ca. 1984-1987), and Ridley Watts and Gertrude van Epps Hoy Watts (former owners).
Garden designer
Wodell, Helen Page
Poinier, Lois W.
Collection Garden designer
Poinier, Lois W.
Wodell, Helen Page
Cottrell, Lois Page
Place
United States of America -- New Jersey -- Morris County -- Morristown
Topic
Gardens -- New Jersey -- Morristown
Garden designer
Wodell, Helen Page
Poinier, Lois W.
See more items in
Lois W. Poinier slide collection
Lois W. Poinier slide collection / Series 1: Design work / 1.4: New Jersey
Archival Repository
Archives of American Gardens
Identifier
AAG.PNR, File NJ376
Type
Archival materials
Collection Citation
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Lois W. Poinier 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.
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.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1521745806903-1521745807018-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6ce7b42ab-95e8-467b-b959-53bb0541604f

Related Content

  • Lois W. Poinier slide collection

Morristown -- Watts Garden
View Slideshow
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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