Object Details
- General
- In 1925, Clark Williams commissioned Ellen Biddle Shipman to design the landscape for his estate, called Live Oak, in the Belle Haven section of Greenwich, Connecticut. Shipman often used a tiered landscape scheme which featured a pool visible from upper terraces and the house. The water feature was the centerpiece of this garden, reached by a garden walk paved with slabs of flagstone that surrounded the rectangle pool, which was ornamented with a small-scale Louis Saint-Gaudens sculpture of "Piping Pan" spilling streams of water from the two horns he plays. The use of a water feature offered sound, movement, and quality of light which she further expressed with the romantic treatment of her water plantings. Typical of the Shipman style, the areas beyond were screened from view by a heavily planted mix of plants creating contrasts of shape, height, color, and texture. The light and shadows produced from the green shrubbery was also used to increase the beauty of the space and the impact of the blooms. During the Great Depression, Mr. and Mrs. Williams contributed land to the town's community garden. Inspired by the victory gardens of the war effort, Live Oak together with 20 other estates and overseen by a town committee and assisted by the Westchester-Fairfield Horticultural Society, grew vegetables distributed to families in need. Persons Associated: Mr. and Mrs. Clark Williams (former owners); Ellen Biddle Shipman (landscape architect, 1930); Mr. Mair (gardener); Louis Saint-Gaudens (sculptor).
- Owner
- Williams, Clark (Myron Clark), 1870-1946
- Landscape architect
- Shipman, Ellen Biddle, 1869-1950
- Collection Landscape architect
- Shipman, Ellen Biddle, 1869-1950
- Place
- United States of America -- Connecticut -- Fairfield County -- Greenwich
- Live Oak (Greenwich, Connecticut)
- Topic
- Gardens -- Connecticut -- Greenwich
- Owner
- Williams, Clark (Myron Clark), 1870-1946
- Landscape architect
- Shipman, Ellen Biddle, 1869-1950
- See more items in
- Ellen Shipman Garden Photography Collection
- Ellen Shipman Garden Photography Collection / Gardens / Connecticut
- Sponsor
- Cataloging of the Ellen Shipman Garden Photography Collection was made possible with support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum.
- Extent
- 1 Film negative
- Date
- 1935
- Container
- Box 1
- Archival Repository
- Archives of American Gardens
- Identifier
- AAG.SHP, File CT765
- Type
- Archival materials
- Negatives
- Film negative
- Collection Citation
- Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Ellen Shipman garden photography 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: [email protected].
- Bibliography
- Garden has been featured in Judith B. Tankard, The Gardens of Ellen Biddle Shipman (Sagaponeck, NY: Sagapress, Inc., 1996), p. 95, 104, 106. Garden has been featured in Judith B. Tankard, Ellen Shipman and The American Garden (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2018), p. 127, 141-142, 267n18. Garden has been featured in Kelsie Dalton, "Our Town, Our Gardens: Community Gardening in Greenwich," greenwhichhistory.org, Greenwich Historical Society.
- 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: [email protected].
- Record ID
- ebl-1633715325312-1633715325339-0
