Chicago is known for its architecture, and the leafy suburbs north of the city along Lake Michigan are home to many amazing landscapes by some of the country's most distinguished landscape architects, past and present.
In Gardens of the North Shore of Chicago, (Monacelli Press, 2020), author Benjamin Lenhardt profiles 25 private gardens, both traditional and modern, that stretch along the coast. Lenhardt is former chairman of the Garden Conservancy, and has long been interested in historic preservation.
The gardens are of four distinct themes: Classic, Contemporary, Country, and Naturalistic -- and each entry is accompanied by gorgeous photos by Scott Shigley. Lenhardt provides historical notes about each property and detailed descriptions based on interviews with current property owners and the designers and landscape architects who worked on the various sites.
Some of the highlights from the book"
"Beauty without Boundaries," an 18th Century style French manor house with gardens that are accessible to all. Designer Deborah Nevins of NYC encouraged the owners to visit properties in Europe for ideas, and she then designed the garden with broad, non-slip paths, no steps, and seats and benches everywhere so that visitors can enjoy the flowering shrubs and trees, the perennials, and breathtaking views in every direction.
Bluhm Garden - Landscape architect Doug Hoerr was brought in by clients Amy and Bluhm because they admired his "artistic blend of naturalistic and contemporary landscapes." The three acre property includes a very modern house overlooking the lake, and terraces on different levels for dining, entertaining, and sports. Plantings are architectural and geometric, with beds of single cultivars, along with sweeps of grasses, mature trees, and islands with small trees and shrubs, roses, and perennials.
The Rumsey Estate's landscape was first designed by Jens Jensen in 1913, but after the property changed owners several times, a new couple that bought it in 2004 decided to restore at least some of Jensen's original concepts. They consulted his original plans for the property and hired a Jensen scholar and his wife as landscape architects. Now, you can stroll down winding paths through native trees and shrubs, and a clearing in Jensen's style has views of the house and garden parterres. Jensen's Mayflower Ravine, 25 feet deep, had eroded and collapsed, but with great effort, it has been restored and stabilized with 275 trees, 3400 shrubs, and 39,000 perennials.
I'll let my readers discover the other spectacular gardens in the book ... and do check the Garden Conservancy's Open Days Schedule ... and you'll find the dates when some of these gardens may be open. Proceeds from the book will also go to The Garden Conservancy.
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