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Catalog Data

Landscape architect:
Cram, Robert Nathan, d. 1930  Search this
Architect:
Stone, James Hicks, 1889-1928  Search this
Provenance:
Beacon Hill Garden Club  Search this
Collection Creator:
Garden Club of America  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Place:
Capitoline Garden, The, Cobb House Condominium (Boston, Massachusetts)
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Suffolk County -- Boston
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, site plans, copies of articles about the garden from the 1920s and 1930s, and other information.
General:
Located on Beacon Hill, this garden is a well-preserved vestige of the post-1900 movement to convert the service areas of 19th-century townhouses into gardens. The garden was originally designed in 1928 by Harvard landscape design graduate Robert Nathan Cram to lie behind two adjoining Joy Street houses (ca. 1810) that he owned. The Depression intervened, however; Cram, financially ruined, died a suicide in 1930 and subsequent owners made many changes. Finally, in 1984 the property was converted to condominium apartments. The condominium association has imaginatively planted and carefully maintained its unique little courtyard. Remarkably, the outlines of Cram's original design are still in place, with several features intact: a chin-deep "plunging pool" fed by a dolphin-head fountain and a pergola supported by twisted columns.
Persons associated with the garden include Robert Nathan Cram (landscape architect, 1928-30) and James Hicks Stone (architect, 1928).
Related Materials:
The Capitoline Garden, Cobb House Condominium related holdings consist of 1 folder (9 35 mm. slides (photographs); 3 photographic prints)
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.
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.
Topic:
Gardens -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Identifier:
AAG.GCA, File MA046
See more items in:
The Garden Club of America collection
The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / Massachusetts
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Gardens
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6ea14b5da-267b-49d6-8c00-ad8b8bc6d5f6
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref17560