The
Statesman Journal reports a good news story concerning the
Historic Deepwood Estate. Located in Bush’s Pasture Park, Salem in Oregon the
4-acre garden was designed for Alice Brownby by Edith Lord (1887-1976)
and Elizabeth Schryver (1901-1984) from 1930.
To quote the
NWDA website which offers a guide to the Lord-Schryver architectural record 1929-1970:
'Elizabeth Lord was born November 12, 1887, daughter of William Paine
Lord and Juliette Montague Lord. Her father was a former Oregon governor
and U. S. diplomat and her mother, who was involved in many civic
activities, is credited with establishing the Salem Floral Society (now
Salem Garden Club), the first garden club in Oregon. Lord received her
education in various Oregon public school as well as Buenos Aires, where
William Lord held a diplomatic post. Her mother’s devotion to gardening
and extensive travels to view the renowned gardens of the Orient,
Europe, and South America influenced Lord’s decision to make gardening a
profession. She entered Lowthorpe School of Landscape Architecture,
located in Groton, Massachusetts, in 1926.'
'Edith Schryver, known to her friends as Nina, was born March 20,
1901, in Kingston, New York. Her parents, George J. Schryver and Eleanor
Young Schryver, were of Dutch descent. Pursuing her early interest in
gardening, Schryver attended Lowthorpe School of Landscape Architecture
during summers before completing high school. She studied general art
for one year at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute. In 1920 she enrolled full
time at Lowthorpe while working part time in the Boston offices of
Harold Hill Blossom, Elizabeth Pattee, and Elizabeth Leonard Strang, all
landscape architects. The summer of 1922 was spent in the Cornish, New
Hampshire offices of Ellen Shipman, a prominent New York landscape
architects, as part of her scholarship. Upon graduation from Lowthorpe
School, Schryver spent the next five years in Ellen Shipman’s
prestigious New York firm.'
In 1929 the two women founded the firm Lord-Schryver in what has been called 'one of the milestones in the history of Northwest garden design' with Lord focusing on the plant plans to complement Schryver's garden layouts. From a British perspective I would say their design ethos could be described as Arts and Crafts meets Colonial - further comments welcome!
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| Plan of the Deepwood garden. |
1. Entry garden 2. North and east
foundation plantings
3. Great room 4. Spring garden
5. Running brick walk 6. Tea house garden
7. Fern bank 8. Fern bank stairs
9. Lower terrace 10. Scroll Garden
11. Lower walk 12. Lawn bank
13. Shade Garden 14. Secret Garden
15. Tennis court 16. Carriage house entry
A copy of the 2012 Historic Deepwood Preservation Project Report can be downloaded from the 'click here' link at the top on
this page.
