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Catalog Data

Provenance:
North Country Garden Club of Long Island  Search this
Three Harbors Garden Club  Search this
J. Horace McFarland Company  Search this
Landscape architect:
Olmsted Brothers  Search this
Collection Creator:
Garden Club of America  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Place:
New York (State) -- Cold Spring Harbor
Nethermuir (Cold Spring Harbor, NY)
United States of America -- New York -- Suffolk County -- Cold Spring Harbor
Scope and Contents:
The folders include a worksheet, site map, copies of articles, plant list.
Former Title:
The Henry W. de Forest Estate.
General:
This property comprises lands formerly part of the Henry Wheeler de Forest estate. The buildings include Ballybung, built on site of the demolished mansion, and Airslie, a Federal-period farmhouse. Close to the water's edge, the de Forest family erected an Italianate-style house, which they called Nethermuir. The grounds slope down to the water, and were planted with rare trees such as cryptomeria, ginkgo, beeches, and fir. According to a 1921 visit to the garden by the Garden Club of America, the garden was an "old-fashioned walled garden" with best blooming times in May and June. Henry W. de Forest contracted with Olmsted Borthers to create the walled garden. Wooden arbors existed at the lower end, while a free-standing stone tea house and wrought-iron gates remain near the six planting quadrants. The specialty was dogwood and wall plantings. The formal walled garden was later subdivided into three separate parcels. Today, much of the box remains, but little, if any, other plant material survives. Several features include winding paths, open spaces with garden vistas, and the curved driveway at Airslie House.
Persons and organizations associated with this garden include:Henry W. deForest (former owner); The Jones family (former owners, 1785-1978); Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (owner, 1978-present); Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. (landscape architect, 1906, 1909); Olmsted Brothers (landscape architects)
Related Materials:
Nethermuir related holdings consist of 3 folders (8 glass lantern slides; 2 b&w photoprints; and 6 35 mm. slides)
Many drawings and photographs exist at Fairsted, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site.
Records related to this site can be found at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, Olmsted Job Number 03175, Henry and Julia DeForest.
See others in:
J. Horace McFarland Company Collection, 1900-1961.
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 -- New York -- Cold Spring Harbor  Search this
Formal gardens  Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Identifier:
AAG.GCA, File NY074
See more items in:
The Garden Club of America collection
The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / New York
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Gardens
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb60ee097af-e913-451e-84c4-9d08c2db2706
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref26745