Conservation of the Historic Deepwood Garden

The Home Garden. Image Lord & Schryver Conservancy

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.

Lord & Schreyver.  Image Lord & Schryver Conservancy

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.'

Image Lord & Schryver Conservancy

 '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!

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.