Fletcher Steele, Landscape Architect
(From the June 1992 Historical Society Newsletter)
Architecture. What do you envision when you hear that word? Most of us picture bricks, stone, wood, and the buildings those materials make up. But what about shrubs, soil, water, and outdoor statues? The landscaping that surrounds the buildings we live and work in is also a type of architecture, and landscape architects spend their careers creating outdoor spaces which complement buildings.
Landscape architect Fletcher Steele, who lived from 1885 to 1971, called himself, a “landscape sculptor.” In his sixty-year career, he “sculpted” over five hundred gardens – and six of them were in Geneva. The homes whose gardens Steele created were White Springs Farm, 554 South Main Street, 731 South Main Street, 775 South Main Street, and 756 South Main Street. (He worked on 756 South Main Street’s landscape twice – in 1916 for Walter Howard and then in 1945 for H. E. Hovey.
Fletcher Steele believed that gardening is an art, and experts say that in his chosen art form Steele bridged the gap between the Victorian style and the Modernist Style. Many people believe Steele was the most important landscape architect of the first half of the twentieth century.
Steele worked extremely closely with his clients, even learning what kinds of books they liked to read. He believed a landscape should reflect the personalities of the people who own the land. In fact, he wrote a book titled Gardens and People. In it he asked garden owners questions like, “Do you like to hear the telephone bell? Where will the baby-carriage go? Do you want to keep an eye on the weeds or get out of their way? And where will you sit to be with the stars?” Steele believed that gardens are not just for decoration, but for active use by people strolling with a baby carriage or relaxing on a star-lit night. And each of his gardens was an individual as its users. A creative, colorful and flamboyant artist, Steele made a lasting impression on the people he worked for. Among his hundreds of clients were Geneva residents Edward H. Palmer, Henry O Palmer, Alfred Lewis, Walter Howard, O.J.C. Rose, H.E. Hovey and their families.
It’s often difficult to uncover the history of landscape architecture; changes in weather or ownership of the land mean that this art form is not always lasting. But traces do remain – a stone stairway, an overgrown fountain, a tree that has survived many years.
Geneva was home to another landscape architect Marian Cruger Coffin
View the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Fletcher Steele Collection on New York Digital Heritage.
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Very interesting article. I know that my gardens have changed greatly over the years but whoever planted the original trees was a genius. A few years prior to our ownership of 859 S. Main, the sewer ran through the backyard and changed the gardens; much of the shrubbery that was here in the 70s when we arrived has aged out; falling trees also changed the appearance; and the deer have required a replanting of many areas as they destroyed the rose garden, the tulips, the hosta, the beds of solomon seal and the day lilies — all of which were once plentiful.