Chesterwood

The Chesterwood garden was built in the 1920s as a studio and garden for the sculptor Daniel Chester French (1850-1931). The estate had been purchased by the French family in 1898 and was laid out in the Beaux Arts style of the Country Place Era. The plan is geometrical with a cross axis running from the studio. Columns and a wrought iron arch terminate the axes. A lilac hedge runs along the eastern edge of the garden and hemlock marks the west and south edges. Daniel Chester French is famous for the sculpture in Lincoln for the Memorial in Washington D.C. and the Minute Man. French designed the the garden himself with both geometrical and informal elements. The style is Arts and Crafts and it makes an interesting comparison with other artist's gardens (eg the Museo de Sorolla in Madrid and G F Watts garden in England).