History

The Artisans Behind the Scenes at the Inn

hbrough — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 14:22:18 +0000

The Artisans Behind the Scenes at the Inn hbrough Fri, 08/02/2024 - 10:22

Shelburne Farms has long been committed to reimagining historic spaces and infusing them with new purpose. The Farm Barn is an education center and more, the north gate house is a Welcome Center & Farm Store, the Coach Barn is being rehabilitated as a gathering center for educators and the community.

Shelburne House, once a family home, was transformed into an Inn in 1987. Its original furnishings (75-80%), are not displayed as a static exhibition, but used continuously by visitors to give each person a living historic house experience. And as a sustainability practice, we maintain (repair, reupholster) what we have rather than buying new furnishings. Here’s a look at some of the artisans and the conservation projects they took on at the Inn this season to ensure the spaces will be enjoyed now and into the future.

Carolyn Frisa: Wallpaper Conservation

Carolyn (right) and her studio manager, Ada Brown (left) in the final stages of inpainting areas of loss.
Where areas of white plaster were exposed (at lower left), Carolyn infilled with a heavy, off-white Japanese paper that she tinted to match the wallpaper using a palette of watercolor, gouache or acrylic paint (right).
The Fr. Beck wallpaper, pattern #674, hung in the main corridor between the Tea Room and the Marble Dining Room (pictured), and in the Tea Room. (photo: Thomas E. Marr, ca. 1900 -1903, Shelburne Farms Archives)

Carolyn Frisa is head conservator and owner of Works on Paper in southern Vermont, where she specializes in the preservation and conservation of paper. She has helped Shelburne Farms conserve a variety of objects from the collection, including framed photographs, engravings and watercolors, and wallpaper dating to 1890 and 1899.

Carolyn returned this spring to clean and stabilize the wallpaper in the corridor leading to the Marble Dining Room. In addition to cleaning the wallpaper surface with soft brushes and vulcanized rubber sponges (or "soot sponges"), she paid special attention to re-adhering the largest and loosest sections with wheat starch paste to avoid future losses. She and her studio manager Ada Brown then infilled areas of complete loss and minimized areas stained by previous water damage. "Preserving these materials for staff, guests, and visitors to use and enjoy is part of what makes working here so rewarding,” Carolyn says.

The neoclassical designed machine printed wallpaper, with white, green, and metallic decoration on a distinctive Prussian blue ground, was manufactured by F(rederick). R. Beck & Co. of New York City. Numerous Fr. Beck & Co. wallpapers were used throughout Shelburne House between 1895 and 1899. The company and its employees were well-respected for their artistry and ability to utilize modern printing techniques to create fashionable wallpapers. An 1893 article about Beck wallpapers in The Decorator and Furnisher extolled the “efforts that combine the genius of the artist with the trained skill of the practical mechanic,” and went on to say, “...and so it is that the blank roll of wall-paper is swiftly emblazoned with the most beautiful conceptions by the simple turning of the wheel.”

Judith Eisenberg: Silk Wallcovering Conservation

Textile conservator Judith Eisenberg examines how a new cotton underlayment fabric, selected for its complimentary red color and lack of sheen, appears with the original silk. (May 1, 2024)
Silk damaged beyond repair was removed to reveal the original white cotton interlining that supported it (left). The treated area (right) has a new crimson colored cotton fabric mounted beneath the original silk to mask the loss.
The original wall covering appears in this c. 1900 photo (photo: Thomas E. Marr, ca. 1900 -1903, Shelburne Farms Archives).

This season, textile conservator Judith Eisenberg treated the original crimson silk damask wall covering in the Marble Dining Room, stabilizing areas that have been damaged over time by tables and chairs. The silk was too vulnerable to repair with stitches, so she relied on an archival adhesive to secure it to newly mounted cotton fabric (see images). Future conservation will be necessary to address splitting seams.

The silk fabric was custom woven for the Marble Dining Room in August 1898 by Prelle et Cie, located in Lyon, France. Family-run since 1752, Prelle still designs and weaves silk today. The Frick Collection, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Biltmore to name a few have a long history of using Prelle silk on walls.

As Judith worked through the challenges with Shelburne Farms’ original silk, she fondly reminisced about tackling painted silk panels made in the 1970s by Robert Rauschenberg—perhaps one of her favorite conservation projects ever in a career spanning four decades. Prior to her recent move to Vermont, Judith ran her own textile lab in New York City. Judith enjoys projects of all sizes and while Shelburne Farms has been her largest since relocating to Vermont, she also recently completed work on a Torah mantle (cover) for Ohavi Zedek Synagogue in Burlington.

Mike Williams: Upholstery

Upholsterer Mike Williams on the job at the Inn. He often makes “house calls” for quick repairs and does small jobs onsite.
After taking the Tea Room sofas to his workshop and removing the worn and torn fabric, Mike carefully stretches and tacks on the new “Ancient Canopy” woodlands-inspired fabric by Sanderson.
The newly re-upholstered sofas in situ in the Tea Room at the Inn.

Mike Williams has been upholstering furniture for over 40 years. He learned the trade from his father, whose business A&R Interiors was located on St. Paul St. in Burlington. (Coincidentally, Mike’s grandfather, Maurice Bushway, worked for Shelburne Farms’ dairy in the late 1950s.) Mike has a vast knowledge of fabrics, a sharp attention to detail, and a love of historic furniture—and Shelburne Farms. He literally knows our furniture inside and out –having reupholstered some pieces twice. As he tries to ease into some sort of retirement, he is selective about the projects he takes on, but this spring, he agreed to upholster the two large Empire sofas in the Tea Room, which he had last upholstered in 2014. He relished the challenge of securing the woodlands inspired fabric, “Ancient Canopy”, to the sofas' seats and backs while matching its repeating pattern. “This project has been one of my top three career favorites,” he shared.

Jennie Baker: Painted Furniture Conservation

Jennie Baker (right) with upholsterer Mike Williams. Over the years, these two have often collaborated on a variety of furniture conservation projects requiring both of their areas of expertise.
This washstand from the Blue Room is part of a suite of furniture that was originally painted “green and white,” but it had additional paint layers as well.
Using dental instruments for the small carved details, Jennie carefully removed multiple layers of paint (note both the green and cream paints), revealing the intricate carved flower and ribbon wreath.

Local conservator Jennie Baker, typically arrives at the Inn each April to work through a list of annual conservation projects. As a trained conservator, she combines her expertise in chemistry with a vast knowledge of furniture making. For over 25 years, Jennie has been instrumental in helping Shelburne Farms with a myriad of projects: she has cast new pieces to replicate losses to interior plaster moldings and gilded wood frames, repaired furniture, preserved varnished, gilded and painted wood surfaces, and provided creative and invaluable advice on a multitude of projects.

Most recently, Jennie completed the treatment of five pieces of painted furniture that were purchased as part of a suite in 1899 from Schultze, Dowling, & Butler, an interior decorating firm in New York City. A 1915 Shelburne House inventory lists many such pieces of “enameled” furniture, and over time, many have been repainted, often in different colors. During treatment, Jennie removed contemporary layers of paint to reveal early paint colors and long-obscured carved details (floral wreaths, ribbons, finials, bellflower edging), then helped us determine the proper final color and finish. “The most gratifying part,” Jennie shares, “is revealing the exquisite carving that has been obliterated under layers and layers of paint. Especially that carving on the back of the Blue Room washstand.”

We are so grateful to each skilled professional who helps us care for and maintain Shelburne Farms’ buildings and landscape. We are also grateful to the generosity of donors who have made this year's ambitious conservation/preservation projects at the Inn possible.

NOTE: As a National Historic Landmark, Shelburne Farms adheres to the Secretary of the Interior’s guidelines for the treatment of historic properties: We use the “Rehabilitation” approach to conservation, which “acknowledge[s] the need to alter or add to a historic building to meet continuing new uses while retaining the building’s historic character.”

Specifically, rehabilitation is defined as “the act or process of making possible a compatible use for a property through repair, alterations, and additions while preserving those portions or features which convey its historical, cultural, or architectural values.”

Julie Eldridge Edwards

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I love this level of conservation for Shelburne Farms!!

Want an amazing group of artisans

Oh thank you for the work you all do!! preserving every detail of this national treasure right in our midst!!

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August 8, 2024

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Where on the Farm? Lone Tree Hill

hbrough — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 17:25:13 +0000

Where on the Farm? Lone Tree Hill hbrough Wed, 06/07/2023 - 13:25

Daria Bishop
Sarah Webb
Daria Bishop
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Daria Bishop
Daria Bishop

If you go searching for the namesake tree at the top of Shelburne Farms’ tallest hill, you sadly won’t find it. And–spoiler alert–we don’t know what species it was or where the tree stood. But we know roughly when it existed, and we know a lot more about this favorite walking destination on our campus.

The hill, of course, has existed far longer than any tree growing on it. It was shaped and scoured by massive glaciers, then submerged under water. When Lake Vermont inundated the region some 20,000 years ago, sealed in by glaciers retreating north, local Mt. Philo was tall enough to be a small island, but not Lone Tree Hill.

Then, 12,000 years ago, Lake Vermont’s glacial ice dam failed. Even as ocean water from the St. Lawrence flowed in to help form the Champlain Sea, the water level overall fell nearly 300 feet. Lone Tree Hill emerged for the first time.

Lone Tree Hill was under the waters of Lake Vermont 20,000 years ago. When the Champlain Sea took over, the hill formed a small island. (Source: Walter Poleman, UVM)

Slowly, unburdened of ice, all the land rose and pushed out the salty sea, leaving today’s Lake Champlain. The land began to nourish life: lichen, birches, deer. It became the home and hunting grounds of PaleoIndians, then, much later, of their descendants, the Western Abenaki. The Abenaki undoubtedly hunted and foraged on hills like Lone Tree, and the entire Champlain Valley was, and is, central to their identity. If they had a name for Lone Tree Hill, however, it has been lost to time–erased.

“Our” tree likely enters the story sometime later. The name “Lone Tree Hill” seems to first show up on the 1869 Beers Atlas of Chittenden County, noted as “Comstocks or Lone Tree Hill.” It suggests that a tree was standing on the hill for some time before 1869, perhaps one of the long-lived red oaks or white pines that thrived in the valley.

The Beers map from 1869 records "Lone Tree Hill" by name.

The Comstocks were among several early European settlers of Shelburne, arriving shortly after the Revolutionary War, serving the town in various capacities, and establishing farms that they later sold to the Webbs. Colonizers like the Comstocks had displaced the Abenaki and cleared most of the Champlain Valley of forests by the mid-19th century. The Lone Tree either escaped the saw, or grew after an early cut.

Whatever the tree’s origin, we know it didn’t survive long into the 20th century. In 1908, Lila Webb recorded its loss in one of her scrapbooks:

“Mr. A. Taylor died in Aug. 1908 - and in the same month the ‘Lone Tree’ on ‘Lone Tree Hill’ blew down.”

The tree was lost, but the name has endured. So has the place. Since at least the 1880s, its rounded crown has been mowed to hold back successional trees. Interestingly, though, as thousands of trees were planted around the estate in its early days, a brief article in the St. Johnsbury Caledonian in 1898 notes that, “What is known as Lone Tree Hill has been nearly covered.”

Article in the St. Johnsbury Caledonian, May 4, 1898, courtesy of Vermont Historical Society

Nearly, but not quite. The Webbs built carriage roads traversing it to enjoy its unobstructed views both east and west. (Aerial photos from 1927 show the hill still bald.) Years later, the nonprofit wove walking trails to the top for students and visitors to enjoy those same views. We continue to mow the area annually, creating a meadow of orchard grass, brome grass, goldenrod, vetch, and more. People instrumental to the nonprofit are honored here. Lone Tree Hill has been, and continues to be, a place of reflection, gathering, and learning.

In this 1927 aerial photo, you can see the manicured crest of Lone Tree Hill. (source: Shelburne Farms Archives)

It was also, briefly, a place of battle. During World War II, farm employees and Shelburne residents volunteered to watch for enemy airplanes from a lookout station on top of the hill. A small wooden shack was equipped with a telephone and a pair of binoculars, and papered with silhouettes of Japanese and German war planes. (No planes were ever detected.)

Observation Post at top of Lone Tree Hill, Summer 1943 (source: Shelburne Farms Archives)

From the Abenaki, to the settlers, to the Webbs, and all the visitors and learners who now enjoy Shelburne Farms, Lone Tree Hill has witnessed and shaped a thousand memories, a thousand stories. In an April 1922 letter to her husband, Lila Webb wrote,

“I walked up to Lone Tree Hill this afternoon, & spent over an hour there... My, but it was beautiful this afternoon. I wish you could have seen it, with the snow on [Mount] Mansfield, & yet the sun so warm & bright, & no wind.” Lone Tree Hill, she went on, “seems to me like heaven.”

Few would disagree.

Do you have a memory of Lone Tree Hill? Share it in the comments.

Sources:

Walter Poleman, University of Vermont, Presentation on Shelburne Pond, 2022

Map of Shelburne, Vermont in Frederick Beers, Atlas of Chittenden County, Vermont (New York, 1869). Special Collections Library, University of Vermont

The St. Johnsbury Caledonian (St. Johnsbury, Vermont), Wednesday, May 4, 1898. From Newspapers.com, courtesy of the Vermont Historical Society

Letter from Lila Osgood Webb (LOW) to William Seward Webb, April 16, 1922, Folder 20, Deed Box Collection, LOW Papers, SFC, Shelburne Farms Archives

Oral History Interview with Samuel B. Webb Jr., Wednesday, October 18, 2004, Shelburne Farms Archives

Oral History Interview with Keenis Patterson, April 2007, Shelburne Farms Archives.

Holly Brough

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Lone Tree Hill is a place that evokes a spiritual reverence for the natural world. It awakens you to the knowledge that we were created to be the Earth's primary steward and friend; that this immense view of beauty is our responsibility alone to preserve.

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June 7, 2023

New trees help renew an earlier landscape

admin — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 19:43:24 +0000

New trees help renew an earlier landscape admin Tue, 06/14/2022 - 15:43

The Main Drive in from the North Gate this season, with the Farm Barn in the distance. (photo: Caleb Kenna)

If you have visited Shelburne Farms lately, you may have noticed some new additions to the campus landscape. In late May, eighty-nine new trees were planted along our farm roads as part of our landscape renewal plan.

According to Shelburne Farms’ archival photographs and records dating back to the late 19th century, stretches of farm roads were once lined with trees, especially the stately elm. Many of the trees formed dramatic allées: their leaf canopies dappled the road with sunshine and shadows. Sadly, nearly all the elm trees were lost to Dutch Elm disease in the 1970s. Additional trees were lost to farm operations, or simply, as in the case of Poplar Drive, to the march of time.

Restoration of some of these allées began more than a decade ago, when we planted Princeton Elms along the main drive (and also around the Inn). In 2019, we replanted the allée along Poplar Drive. This season, the tree planting work got a big boost thanks to a special gift from a donor with deep ties to Vermont.

Horsford Gardens and Nursery, located in the neighboring town of Charlotte, provided the trees for this planting, in a business relationship that dates back 135 years! In March 1887, in a letter now at the Library of Congress, Dr. Webb, founder of the agricultural estate, wrote to Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., “....I would be very much pleased to have you give Pringle & Horsford an order for the above plants and stock at the price you suggest. Mr. Taylor will see that they are taken good care of on their arrival.” The earliest surviving Horsford receipt held in the Shelburne Farms Archives dates to 1902.

But in the era of climate change, nurturing trees successfully after planting has become trickier, even as it’s become more essential. Trees are now subject to more diseases, fiercer weather events, and warmer temperatures. The Princeton Elms, for example, bred for their resistance to Dutch Elm disease, have instead been succumbing to that blight. To plan as much as we can for resilience, we planted native heat tolerant species like hickory and tulip trees, sycamores, and bur oaks, in addition to signature sugar maples, white pines, and oaks.

Since 2004, all landscape restoration work has been guided by our Shelburne Farms Landscape Stewardship Plan, developed by Heritage Landscapes to help us care for this National Historic Landmark. As the plan states, we seek to "investigate the past to inspire the future." Planting trees that both honor the past and embrace an uncertain future does just that, with nature leading the way.

Enjoy a photo tour of the trees through the years.

You can just see newly planted allée trees to the left of the hay wagon in this circa 1893 postcard. One focus of this year's work was to plant young oaks to restore this allée that runs from the Farm Barn down to the pond. (photo: Shelburne Farms Archives)

In this aerial photo from the 1940s, you can see nearly every road on the farm lined with trees. (photo: Shelburne Farms Archives)

The main drive circa 1955. The elms are already showing signs of decline. (photo: Noonan Photography / Shelburne Farms Archives)

Heritage Landscapes developed the tree list for this season’s plantings based on native species that would likely do well in a warming climate. A team from Horsford Nursery and Distinctive Landscaping in Charlotte, VT did the lion’s share of the tree planting work. (photo: Caleb Kenna)

Horsfords relationship to the farm dates back 135 years. The nursery was founded in 1883 and the Webbs first purchased plant stock there in 1887. (photo: Caleb Kenna)

Some of the Princeton elms that we planted along the Main Drive have already succumbed to Dutch Elm disease and more will likely follow. (Although bred to be resistant to the disease, Princeton Elms are not immune to it.) We are now planting sycamores in between the elms, planning for a time when the sycamores alone will form the majestic canopy over the road. (photo: Caleb Kenna)

Holly Brough

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great article! wonderful planning and work! bringing back so many childhood visits in the 40s & 50s & early 60s and with our children in the 70s — Thank you SFarms!

The trouble is mono-culture. First all elms, now replaced by all sycamores. Variety is the best option to not end up with dead and dying trees.

Hello,
I am curious why, with all the knowledge accumulated about tree planting, disease and climate change, Shelburne planted a monoculture allee? Just so unwise...I hope the trees succeed but what an ill advised venture.

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Olmsted's Vision at Shelburne Farms

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 16:36:43 +0000

Olmsted's Vision at Shelburne Farms admin Mon, 02/28/2022 - 11:36

This blog was originally published by the National Association for Olmsted Parks in their "Spotlight" series, in honor of the ongoing Olmsted 200 celebration. The original piece, along with information on Olmsted 200, can be found here.

Portrait photo of Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr.
“We have an interesting private work in a great stock farm for Dr. Webb near Burlington, Vt. with a magnificent view over Champlain to the Adirondacks. I propose a perfectly simple park, or pasture field, a mile long on the lake half a mile deep, the house looking down upon and over it.”

– Frederick Law Olmsted to Charles Eliot, July 20, 1886 (Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Collection)

Shelburne Farms is an education nonprofit working to inspire and cultivate learning for a sustainable future. Our campus, a 1,400-acre working farm and National Historic Landmark designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., makes that work a lot easier. The themes and beliefs that run through all of Olmsted’s projects: that nature is a balm for the human spirit, and that access to nature is essential for all, are evident at Shelburne Farms, and the landscape he inspired here is fundamental to our educational mission.

Shelburne Farms’ campus was once the agricultural estate of Lila Vanderbilt and Dr. William Seward Webb. Between 1886 and 1902, the couple bought 32 farms on Shelburne Point, amassing 3,800-acres framed by the blue waters of Lake Champlain, the tumble of the Adirondacks, and the rolling Green Mountains of Vermont. It was an ideal canvas for Olmsted.

Olmsted visited Shelburne Farms in June of 1886 and offered ideas on the function and design of the assembled property and its future buildings. Within a year of visiting, his original plan delineated a division of the property into farm, forest, and parklands (or park), a plan that was modified and carried out by Dr. Webb and Farm Manager Arthur Taylor.

In addition to this organizing concept, Olmsted borrowed design principles from the English naturalist landscape tradition of the early 18th century, whereby parks were built around three elements: broad meadows, diverse woodlands, and water reflecting the sky. All of these features were–and remain–abundant at Shelburne Farms.

Credit: Marshall Webb

To highlight the features, roads were laid out through the natural topography of hills and hollows to alternately obscure and reveal vistas, creating mystery and surprise in the landscape, and framing the magnificent buildings designed by Robert H. Robertson. As the property was described in New England Magazine in 1901, “… fine macadam roads now stretch for miles in every direction, making graceful sweeps around the gentle hills, and with the constant turns new vistas are presented which delight and surprise one. The roads pass through magnificent avenues of tall pines, whose rich foliage meeting overhead gives a cool and refreshing protection from the sun.”

While Olmsted’s involvement at Shelburne Farms was brief, his imprint here is unmistakable, and his vision and ideals even more relevant in today’s world. How fortuitous that when the education nonprofit was formed in 1972, this landscape became its campus for learning, as a way to connect educators, students, and visitors to the natural world, just as Olmsted intended. And since the pandemic began nearly two years ago, this place, designed so intentionally to offer solace in nature, has provided that for countless visitors.

Credit: Sarah Webb

Holly Brough

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It's so true that the SF property, as designed by Olmsted, "a balm for the human spirit". We considered moving out of state last year, but one of the major reasons why we decided to stay and continue to be stewards of SF is our proximity to it and being able to walk through its forests, meadows and wetlands.

Holly, Thanks for posting this. I've often wondered, while exploring the estate, are there any of Olmstead's designs of the original plans for the land? That would be so interesting to see.

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Red Letter Days: Shirley Murray and the Journals of Lila Webb

admin — Sun, 13 Feb 2022 17:58:09 +0000

Red Letter Days: Shirley Murray and the Journals of Lila Webb admin Sun, 02/13/2022 - 12:58

Shirley Murray in front of a portrait of Lila Webb, Tea Room at Shelburne Farms Inn, 2017.
“In her own words in her journals and diaries, we listen to her voice as she tells her story, which can be an inspiration to women of all generations. The undaunted courage of this wise, compassionate woman can teach us all how to survive the valleys as we cherish the beauty of our own mountaintop experiences.”

–Shirley Murray, 1999

Shirley Murray, a long-time volunteer at Shelburne Farms, had a life-long passion for teaching, learning, and making connections with everyone with whom she came in contact. She taught kindergarten, English as a second language to mothers and children of many countries and cultures, and later, journal writing workshops throughout New England.

Her connection to Shelburne Farms began when she arrived to volunteer as a tour guide in a fledgling volunteer program begun in 1986. That same year, she was introduced to the journals of Lila Webb. Farm staff Megan Camp led her up to the Farm Barn turret to show her two cardboard boxes covered in dust and bird droppings. But Megan knew the treasure inside them. “Lila’s journals are in here!” she enthused, carefully revealing the bound volumes within the boxes. The contents of those two simple boxes would occupy Shirley Murray for the next 17 years as she read, transcribed, and audio-recorded nearly 61 years of Lila Webb’s journals and diaries.

Eliza (Lila) Osgood Vanderbilt began composing her daily activities at the age of 16, and continued to do so throughout her lifetime, in journals that varied in format, color, size, shape, and binding over the years. As the youngest daughter of William H. Vanderbilt—one of the world’s wealthiest men at the time of his death in 1885—Lila’s early diaries provide a glimpse into the daily life of a privileged adolescent girl in the Gilded Age.

Most entries chronicle her day-to-day activities, but a few journals take the form of love letters. Lila married William Seward Webb in 1881 and together they used their enormous wealth to purchase and consolidate 32 farms into a single 3,800-acre agricultural estate they called Shelburne Farms. As Shirley aptly stated, “Shelburne, Vermont became [Lila’s] beloved home for fifty years. It was her sanctuary where she felt and awed in the beauty of the sunrises over Lone Tree Hill and the sunsets over the Adirondack Mountains across Lake Champlain in New York State.”

When Lila Webb was thirty-six years of age, on December 17, 1896, she reflected on her motivation for journaling. She wrote:

“My notes are very desultory and detached, but they are for personal use. They help me get through the many sad and dreary ones [days] which are sure to follow, but let us thank God for the red letter days when they come.”

Borrowing from Lila, Shirley spoke often of red letter days in her own life: the days, occasions, and people that brought her joy and delight. And like Lila before her, Shirley would annotate her own journal entries using a red pen to bold those wonderfully memorable days.

Transcribing Lila’s journals was a labor of love. Shirley began with a scrapbook that Lila compiled in 1875 when she was just 14 years old, and continued through to Lila’s last journal entry on May 18, 1936, just two months before Lila’s death. Along the way, Shirley took copious notes, grew intimately familiar with the tutored and elegant pen strokes of Lila’s handwriting and became, in effect, Lila’s friend.

As a passionate “journaler” herself, Shirley discovered in Lila an equally devoted writer and chronicler of life. And as a retired teacher, Shirley found herself learning lessons from Lila about ways to keep a journal; even ways to live a life and more importantly, how to remain buoyant and afloat among life’s complexities.

Shirley Murray passed away in May 2021 at the age of 93. Shelburne Farms is deeply grateful for her decades of dedication and friendship, and for her generous gift to Shelburne Farms' endowment through a planned giving bequest in her will. Shirley has left a lasting legacy that will help Shelburne Farms continue to pursue its mission far into the future.

In 1986, Shirley climbed these stairs with Megan Camp to discover all these archival boxes in the turret of the Farm Barn. Two of those boxes held Lila Webb's journals.

Pages from one of Lila Vanderbilt’s earliest journals/scrapbooks — written when she was a young girl in 1875.

Pages from a much later journal of Lila in 1904, when she was a wife and mother. On Monday, September 19, 1904, she wrote, "My boy leaves me tomorrow for Groton School. It requires all the courage I have to let him go. I am sure it is best for him. I can only hope and pray it is a wise decision, for I feel that the responsibility of it lies with me, and should it not be for his good, I could only have myself to blame. He is too fine a boy to run any risk of being spoiled by too easy house training, but it just breaks my heart to give him up."

Seward Webb penciled toujours fidele—always faithful—on the rib of Lila’s fan, a memento from an arranged weekend gathering of society’s young and eligible adults in August 1878, near Saratoga, NY. (In this studio photo from that weekend, Lila is in back row, second from right, holding the fan. Seward is gazing at her.) In 1986, this memento was discovered in an old box of curtains. Its significance would have been lost had Shirley not shared this information from the journals within days of the discovery—one of the coincidences and “en moments” Shirley would encounter while working with the journals.

The "T........ F.......", at the beginning of the second line of Seward's inscription on the fan, was the shortened form of "toujours fidele" that he used in his correspondence with Lila. His longer inscription reads, "a pipe, a pipe, a kingdom for a pipe."

Julie Eldridge Edwards

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This is a wonderful tribute to a lovely and ebullient woman who was always positive and forever curious. She shared her enthusiasm for Lila and the Farm wherever she went. It was impossible not to feel her love for her subject too.

Throughout my years as a tour guide at Shelburne Farms, Shirley's talks on Lila's journal were the most meaningful to me.

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Bernie Severance: a lifetime dedication to the Breeding Barn

admin — Fri, 14 May 2021 18:58:09 +0000

Bernie Severance: a lifetime dedication to the Breeding Barn admin Fri, 05/14/2021 - 14:58

Shelburne Farms recently lost a long-time friend, Bernie Severance (June 1, 1935 - May 7, 2021). In acknowledging the sadness of his passing, however, we want to celebrate the amazing legacy he left behind for us all: a beautiful scaled replica of the enormous Breeding Barn.

Bernie Severance constructed this scaled replica of the Breeding Barn over nine years and countless hours.

Bernie first saw the barn as a child in the late 1940s, when his family visited Southern Acres Farm to buy Hereford stock. That initial visit would be followed by others, but it wasn’t until 1988 that he hatched the idea to make a model. “When I saw [the barn] in 1988, it was falling down. I wasn’t sure it was going to be there much longer.” Committed to preserving the building in some way, but with no prior model-building experience, Bernie began his project on August 8, 1990. He thought it would take him about a year to complete.

Built at a scale of 1 inch = 3 feet, the model is more than 11 and a half feet long and nearly 3 feet wide.

Nine years later, he finished. (The Breeding Barn itself was built in about a quarter of that time in 1891.) The final replica stands 11.5 feet long and nearly 3 feet wide, built at a scale of 1 inch = 3 feet. Bernie and his wife Pat took stacks and stacks of photos of the barn (in the days before cell phone cameras!), to help them visualize and execute the building plan. And, while he was able to walk with crutches after losing mobility in an accident, Bernie worked on the model from his wheelchair to free up his hands. Pat would often assist him.

Bernie worked on the model primarily at his home in New Hampshire.

The accuracy, intricacy, and beauty of the model are astounding. By Bernie’s own accounting, the finished gem contains over 260,000 pieces. These include 95,000 hand-cut shingles for the roof and about 70,000 cedar shingles for the walls and dormers. With these and many additional materials, Bernie re-created 29 dormers, 668 windows, and 54 interior box stalls. Amazingly, the barn is also electrified: at the flick of a switch, 60 tiny lights illuminate the interior of the barn.

This index card gives you a sense of the intricate work and tiny pieces that went into the model's construction, including 95,000 roof shingles (top center)!

Can you find this interior piece in the next photo?

The model was a labor of love and a work of art. We are so grateful to Bernie for it. Today, the model is housed in a secure room at the Breeding Barn, offering guided guests a way to more intimately appreciate the architectural wonder of the structure.

The model is wired with 60 tiny lights to illuminate the interior. The plexiglass square on the floor is a viewing space: a person can poke their head up to look around the inside of the model.

The roof of the model's back side is mostly clear plexi, allowing visitors to look inside the barn and to see the supporting beam structure.

And fortunately, Bernie lived long enough to know that his fears for the building were unfounded. In fact, thanks to the support of so many, ongoing restoration is ensuring that the irreplaceable barn will be with us for years to come as a three-season venue for educational, community, and agricultural events. This summer, work will begin on reshingling the entire building envelope below the roofline. Stay tuned!

NOTE: Because of the ongoing restoration work in the Breeding Barn, the model itself is not available for viewing.

SOURCES:

Mease Stephen, “Super Model: Careful Craftsman Redesigns a Local Landmark,” Burlington Free Press, June 5, 1995.
Bernard Severance, "THE RING BARN" MODEL FACTS.” Prepared by Greta E. Severance, November 1994.

Bernard (Bernie) Severance (June 1, 1935 - May 7, 2021)

Holly Brough

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Bernie came most summers to check the model and make any repairs he found necessary.
The opening in the bottom of the model allowed children and adults alike to tuck under and pop their heads inside the barn to see it as it was in all its splendor. It is truly a gift that has been part of many a tour.

I have had the opportunity to visit the breeding barn several times and viewed with awe this beautiful model. It is truly a work of art and a testiment to Bernie's skill and dedication in creating this and that of those who built this barn and those working on its restoration to insure it and Bernie's marvelous miniature endure for generations to appreciate and enjoy.

Bernie was also in the Service with Elvis Presley who offered him a job as his Photographer for $10,000.00 per year back in the 50's but Bernie declined to go back home to be with family.

We’re life long friends of Bernie. We will truly miss him. He was so proud of his barn when he finished it. For someone who didn’t know the first thing about building, he did a fantastic job. Enjoy the barn everyone! He told us so many stories of being with Elvis in the Army. We have copies of his pictures with Elvis.

I was fortunate enough to know Bernia and Pat over decades as their medical provider
Bernie would take his wood sticks to Fl each winter and spend hours in this project. I have two sons and he would beseach me too bring them.by to see his " model." Well, after so many years I was embarrassed to say no, so one day we showed up to his home. He pulled up the doors to his 2 car garage and my son and I literally had to catch our jaws from hitting the pavement
He would discuss his many trips to see Mr. Webb, who could see via pictures, Bernie's progress. Mr Webb always invited Bernie and Pat to stay with him. Finally, he delivered the model to Shelburne and was so pleased at the response. Even greater than that was the fact that his model essentially saved the barn and the history lives on.Bernie was so modest about his artistry. But he was a role model to my kids who were able to glean from his countless hours of work, the importance of preserving history, tenacity and hard work.

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Remembering Martin Tierney

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2021 14:32:23 +0000

Remembering Martin Tierney admin Mon, 01/04/2021 - 09:32

Martin Tierney. (Photo: Janice Heilmann)

Martin Tierney was the Farm’s architect from the early 1980s until his retirement in 2003. He played a key role in all of the early capital building projects at Shelburne Farms, working closely with Farm staff, Board members, consultants, contractors, government agencies and partner organizations. His work started with designing the Welcome Center, which opened in 1986, and was followed by rehabilitation of Shelburne House, which opened as the Inn at Shelburne Farms in 1987. Martin went on to oversee the rehabilitation of the Coach Barn and Farm Barn, and emergency stabilization of the Breeding Barn.

After his retirement in 2003, Martin handed the Farm’s architecture baton to Steve Smith and Bren Alvarez of SAS Architects, but continued to generously and joyfully volunteer his time at the Farm by leading behind-the-scenes architectural tours of the Inn, Breeding Barn, and Farm Barn — to the delight of many guests.

Martin loved every aspect of Shelburne Farms. He was great to work with and became a close personal friend — a wonderful human being with an amazing and inspiring life story. He was an important part of so many lives. Martin helped us see that:

Life is a mystery to enjoy and be grateful for.
You can be a great architect and still take a back seat to a beautiful old building.
The more love you put out into the world, the more will come back to you.

We’ll be forever grateful to him.

— Alec Webb and Megan Camp

Below are a few more tributes/remembrances from current and former Shelburne Farms staff and colleagues who worked with Martin.

"Martin Tierney had the skill to preserve the historic fabric of buildings while satisfying requirements and standards. But it was Martin’s humility, humor and heart that made him so unforgettable.

He poured his big heart into Shelburne Farms, and into the people too. That’s why he was, is, and will always be loved."

— Marilyn Webb Neagley
Shelburne Farms President, 1976 to 1988

"Martin Tierney was an enlightened soul, whose passion for the historical fabric of Shelburne Farms radiated from his being. Martin was the right person, in the right spot, at the perfect time to support the extraordinary rebirth of Shelburne Farms. He brought skill, joy, excitement and a sense of timelessness to his work and to all those with whom he worked. A better man I’ve never known."

— Mark Neagley
Centennial Capital Campaign Construction Manager, 1986 to 2003
Neagley & Chase Construction Co.

Mark Neagley; Remo Pizzagalli, Shelburne Farms Board of Directors; and Martin Tierney in front of Farm Barn during its renovation, 1992. (Photo: Marshall Webb)

"Martin was a beautiful man, thoughtful, kind and always full of humor. He approached life with a twinkle in his eye. His skill and his heart are evident in the buildings at Shelburne Farms he so passionately restored. We'll miss him."

— Marshall Webb
Director of Special Projects, Shelburne Farms

"Martin's tours of the Inn began on the South Porch, where he held court with his group arrayed around him in wicker chairs and sofas and leaning against brick walls. He began each tour with the same words, "The rules of the tour are that there are no rules." From there, it was an unscripted stroll through back hallways and first floor rooms, accompanied by Martin's narrative of his work as a young architect selected to manage a one-of-a-kind project. Guests would always feel the pull of the mesmerizing weave of Martin's storytelling. The tour highlight was invariably the basement since all the secrets were there--bricked in doorways, long dormant electrical boxes, knobs and panels from another time. It was all fresh and exciting in the retelling, even after more than 25 years. He was reverential of the experience and its lifelong hold on his imagination.

"Many guests reflected on their time with Martin in room journals and comment cards. It was the best part of their stay, they’d write. I'd make a point of telling Martin how much people loved it, that he had groupies. That he was really special. He never let all that stuff change his humility and grace.

"He loved his friends and his family and loved his life and passed that on to whomever he met. I certainly will miss him and I know I'll think of him whenever I wander into the basement or a back hallway and remember the joy he brought me and many people from all over the globe so fortunate to spend time with him."

— Janice Heilmann
Concierge, Inn at Shelburne Farms

Martin always began his behind-the-scenes tours of the Inn on the South Porch. (Photo: Janice Heilmann)

"Just seeing Martin's little two-seater car in the Inn parking lot would make me feel joyful — to know I would see his face that always had a smile and hear his words that always made me feel happy, along with every other person in the building. I learned so much from him about the historic buildings on the property, especially the Inn, because every tour he gave was different and equally interesting. I became a better person for having known him and for sharing in his wonderful outlook on life.

"I look forward to feeling his presence in so many places in the Inn and throughout the Farm — that's what will make me smile now."

— Karen Polihronakis
Former Director, the Inn at Shelburne Farms

"I met Martin Tierney in 2002 prior to embarking on a Save America's Treasures grant project at the Inn. He was full of wisdom that I appreciated as I got to know the barns and buildings at Shelburne Farms. He always talked of the importance of an architect not having an ego because sometimes the ego would get in the way of a good project. That was clearly the way he operated at Shelburne Farms. With his work on any farm-related endeavor, assistance on a grant, or talk to the public, I always loved and appreciated his calm demeanor, positive attitude, and his foresight in not just preserving Shelburne Farms' past, but safeguarding its future. I will miss Martin immensely."

— Julie Eldridge Edwards
Curator of Collections, Shelburne Farms

Tino, bugiardo mio.

Imagine, I was fresh out of design school and barely back from Italy when Martin hired me for the summer. Normally, a two-line resumé like mine would have been a double red flag for most architectural firms looking to hire, but not for the Office of Martin S. Tierney. Martin was completely unfazed by the challenge of working with a young inexperienced intern who was much more familiar with Italian design than with the Vermont vernacular. In retrospect, I think he liked the challenge and it was clear that we shared a love of design, architecture, stories, more stories, and all things Italian, especially the language.

At the time, Martin didn’t have a lot of Italian words in his toolbox, but his absolute hands down favorite word was bugiardo. I can’t remember exactly why he loved that word so much, but he did. He may have heard it in a Fellini film or in a piazza in Cisternino during his travels to southern Italy. Bugiardo ~ Liar~ is a throw down the gauntlet kind of word that often appears in ordinary insult-hurling Italian street drama; fists clenched, faces red, wild posturing and arm waving until suddenly the involved parties hug, injury and insult forgotten instantly. I had actually witnessed this odd ritual a few times in the streets of Rome. There was no cultural equivalent that was quite as exciting here in Burlington and the knowledge of that bonded us in a weird and wonderful way.

Day One at Martin’s office was unforgettable because Martin was hellbent on practicing his street Italian, devoting a fair amount of time to rolling the R in bugiardo, perfecting his accent, choreographing the respective gestures. Maybe he was showing off a little, maybe I encouraged him a little too much, and then, in retrospect, maybe not, because after all it was a perfect first day at work.

Before the week’s end, he was satisfied that he achieved fluency, at least with that one word. This was cause for great happiness, however irrelevant the accomplishment was to the business of restoration architecture. In the spirit of celebration, we both assumed the name bugiardo (bugiarda for me) and never had use for our given names after that.

At the time, this seemed perfectly normal, particularly as a fundamental principle in The Office was “the more drama the better”. An uneventful day was enough reason for him to resist with stories, antics, more Italian improvisation. He had a huge mischievous streak; a particular glint in his eye warned when he was looking for a monkey wrench to throw into the works. The truth was that I was always ready to help him find it. Plus, he was the boss and I was completely happy to follow his lead. Not that he ever pulled rank ~ on me or on anyone. His enormously open collaborative nature was not at all moderate, just the opposite, it was fiery, passionate, yet entirely egalitarian. He was generous to a fault, a free thinker, creative and carpe diem was what he did naturally, long before that movie came out.

We did settle into a routine that summer. Mornings, I’d climb the creaky staircase, fling open the door and shout, buon giorno, bugiardo! at him. He would look up from his work, acting surprised and insulted, jumping to his feet yelling bugiarda back at me, looking angry and indignant. Then we’d drop the act so we could get to the good morning hug and on to business. The rest of the day was spent drawing, planning, sketching, in between the story telling, mostly Italian stories, but there were his classic Tierney Irish stories, too. And then the summer just flew by, just like that. And then a lifetime flew by. Our paths rarely crossed, but, I am so fortunate that they did that summer.

It must be over a decade since I last saw Martin, and that was probably at The Farm. We immediately fell into our ridiculous ritual greeting, as if it had just been just yesterday. There is joy and sadness both as I can hear Martin answering me when I bid him farewell for this last time, arrivaderci, bugiardo, until we meet again. I can see he is feigning surprise and indignation, and he leaps up, yelling, bugiarda, arrivederci, see you around and don’t forget the monkey wrench. I won’t, either.

— Bren Alvarez
Architect for Shelburne Farms

Thanks to an anonymous gift, Shelburne Farms has set up the Martin Tierney Endowment Fund in his memory.

Martin with his wife Linda at 2019 Stewards Reception at the Coach Barn. (photo: Stephen Mease)

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I was one of the visitors that found Martin's tour of Shelburne House a highlight of my stay. I remember how knowledgeable, humble, and delightful Martin was. My daughter was with me and we agreed that the tour was one of the finest we had ever experienced in years of touring historical homes, parks, and museums. Martin was a treasure. I sympathize with the loss of those who knew him well.

Thank you for sharing that, Alice! It means a lot, just as Martin meant a lot to so many.

Martin and I were in architecture school together at Rensselaer Poly in the late 60s. I never forgot him because he brought the perspective of a slightly older, sometimes irreverent, student to the classroom, which was refreshing to us 19 year olds.
But more importantly, he could be quite comforting on the few occasions I shared my unhappiness at the time.
A wonderful smile, he was a delight to be around.

Probably late after all this history, but I want to speak even if it is late. Marty was my younger stepbrother: we grew up together roughly from age of four and even before that (in a complicated explanation left unsaid) we played as babies. He was seven months younger than I was.

We spent sometimes painful early teen years sitting up at night talking, exchanging those teen year hopes and fears, comforting each other, and that never stopped. Even in his last year we could call each other on the phone and pick up a conversation in the middle, as if we'd never stopped.

We had not seen each other in a long time, but in the beginning of the year he died he said he planned to see us in the Fall ... there are still times when I think 'Oh, I should tell Marty about that, he'd be interested ...' The silence is deafening.

We had absurd nick names for each other that were ridiculously long: typically Martin.
I miss him.
Ingrid( Interdigriginon) Waldron

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A History of the Formal Gardens

admin — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 20:43:49 +0000

A History of the Formal Gardens admin Sun, 08/09/2020 - 16:43

Visitors to the Formal Gardens in the 1920s.

“More than 350 people came to see the garden this afternoon in response to our invitation issued through the newspaper. It looks very well and the lillies are superb.”
-- Lila Osgood Webb, July 23, 1926

Lila Osgood Webb placed an announcement in the Burlington Free Press inviting visitors to come and enjoy her expansive flower gardens along Lake Champlain. Who knew Shelburne Farms hosted the public to the gardens as early as 1926? Lila Webb was thrilled with the success of the open house and the chance for visitors to see and appreciate her gardens became an annual event. The gardens have been cared for by many people since Lila’s era, but today, they remain an exceptional and beautiful example of an American garden. And now they’re open to the public every day.

In 1888, workers completed construction on Shelburne House, which was the Vermont home of Lila and Seward Webb at Shelburne Farms, their country estate and model farm. At first, vast lawns surrounded the house, but by 1898, Lila—a passionate gardener—was already experimenting with not one, but two major gardens, which she continued to rework, enlarge, and amend until her death in 1936.

Her first garden, realized in 1898, was an informal outdoor space called the “Wild Garden,” which she started on a small scale a year before Shelburne House was completed. Situated northwest of the House, the garden was designed to mimic nature or a woodland walk. At its peak, it featured a large, circular fountain featuring a mermaid combing her hair, and intricate, narrow meandering paths through carpets of daffodils, tulips, lilies of the valley, forsythia, lilacs, azaleas, rhododendron, spirea, dogwood, and hardwood and softwood trees. Shrubs and evergreens were planted along its eastern border to hide Shelburne House and the Annex, and in summer, potted palms grown in the Farm’s greenhouses were placed in the Wild Garden.

Early on, leading landscape designers discouraged Lila’s ambitious garden plans. Undeterred, Lila turned to Farm Manager, E.F. Gebhardt and head gardener, Alexander Graham, to plan and execute not one, but two major gardens. (Head gardener Alexander Graham (r) with garden employee James Collier, ca. 1918.)

In contrast to her Wild Garden’s meandering design, irregular borders and spring bloom time, Lila created a formal parterre garden. Planted by about 1900 where the lily pool and balustrade are today, the garden included geometric beds of low-lying annuals and perennials punctuated by a sundial. Bay trees and boxwoods bordered the garden, and lattice fences rimmed the steep cliffs. However, the parterre gardens were soon replaced by a more ambitious horticultural undertaking that would take nearly 20 years to complete.

By 1907, Lila Webb and Farm Manager E.F. Gebhardt began plans for altering the parterre garden and creating a more formal Italianate garden. With Gebhardt’s assistance, Lila prepared and executed plans for a “garden extension” north of the parterre and adjacent to the North Porch at Shelburne House. The garden extension included a pathway from the North Porch to the lakeshore, with low brick walls enclosing a series of levels connected by short stairways.

Beginning in 1908, Lila and head gardener Alexander Graham began creating a more formal Italianate garden extension north of the parterre, next to the North Porch. Workers installed low brick walls to enclose a series of garden terraces that were all connected by short stairs, creating a pathway from the north porch to the lakeshore.

Also in June of 1912, the north pergola and reflecting pool were completed at the northern end of the new Italianate garden. A high curving wall directly behind the pergola marked the northern boundary of the garden. The reflecting pool is chest-deep and Webb family members did take a dip in it on occasion. The sundial from the center of the parterre garden is moved to the grassy area directly in front of the pool.

In 1914, the balustrade and lily pool were added to the Italianate gardens on the garden’s lowest terrace, and potted bay trees placed along the balustrade.

Keenis Patterson grew up on Shelburne Farms but worked in the gardens for many seasons. (photo courtesy of Keenis Patterson).

Lila Webb in her beloved gardens, c. 1933. Following Lila’s death in 1936, at the age of 76, her family and staff cared for and maintained the formal gardens for many years. In particular, her daughter-in-law, Aileen Osborn Webb, tended to the gardens well into the 1970s.

Since the establishment of Shelburne Farms as a nonprofit education organization in 1972, the Formal Gardens have experienced two periods of renovation and restoration: in the 1980s, and, most recently from 2007-2020. Read more on the latest restoration.

Want to virtually stroll through the Formal Gardens today? Check out The Formal Gardens at Shelburne Farms, a new book by Glenn Suokko.

Shelburne Farms’ significant archival collections, along with Lila’s personal collection of books on gardening, landscape design, and flowers, trees and shrubs offer a vivid story of her life-long interest in design and horticulture.

Julie Eldridge Edwards

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Julie,

Great story well written.

Thanks,
Stan

Hi Julie,

A most delightful journey back in time when Shelburne Farms began as a novel and visionary concept in Farming and Gardening. I am reminded of the continuity between the past, present, and future. How inseparable they are to our appreciation (and understanding) of how we arrived, and are living, in this world now, that seems to change ever faster by the day.
Thank you so much. You are an expert Historian and Biographer.
Sincerely,
Jacques-Paul Marton

Fantastic article, Julie!

Beautiful and informative article about the evolvement of the gardens. Very interesting!
Would love to be there when the peony gardens are in bloom plus seeing the restored gardens again. Thanks, Julie.

Spectacular and informative article.
Do You know about Japanese garden ?

I am Chairman on the Conservation Committee of the Woodstock Garden club. We are very interested in visiting Shelburne Farms and the Forman Gardens and I am wondering if there is someone who could give us an informal tour and share the history of the property. I am looking at our calendar and wonder if either October or April would be suitable times to see the property. thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.

Julie,
Thank you so very much always for your continued work here at The Farms!!!
Your article is amazing and informative!!!!
Diane

Thank you for your writing and creative retelling of the history of these beautiful gardens!

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Restoring the Formal Gardens, 2007-2020

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2020 22:14:29 +0000

Restoring the Formal Gardens, 2007-2020 admin Fri, 08/07/2020 - 18:14

Note: This blog expands on an earlier garden restoration update from 2015.

Inspired by an anonymous donor, Shelburne Farms began plans to restore its formal gardens in 2006, under the careful guidance of architectural conservator Douglas Porter. This spring, we completed the final phase of the four-phase restoration, thanks to the vision, talent, dedication and generosity of so many, from supporters to craftspeople. Collectively, they have helped us conserve -- and continue to help maintain -- these remarkable gardens.

Here are some photographic highlights from the four phases of the restoration.

PHASE 1: Lakeshore Erosion Stabilization (2007)

After years of erosion, several pieces of the balustrade had fallen into the lake, while other parts were cracked and crumbling. Stabilizing the shoreline was the first step to support and protect future work. Equipment operators drove out onto the frozen lake in the winter/spring of 2007 to construct a new retaining wall, which was backfilled with tons of stone to provide substantial fortification between the lake and the garden.

(photo: Marshall Webb)

The completed shoreline stabilization project in 2007. Note the gap in the middle of the balustrade, where pieces had fallen into the lake. (photo: Marshall Webb)

PHASE 2: Repairing balustrade & lily pool area (2012)

The balustrade was constructed in 1914 by the Art Stone Company of Miller Falls, Massachusetts, and the lily pool was completed by 1918. Both of these elements were meticulously restored and reconstructed over several years by a historic preservation team from the University of Vermont, overseen by Doug Porter.

The balustrade circa 1914. (Shelburne Farms Collections)

The crumbling balustrade, prior to restoration (photo: Marshall Webb)

Masons re-set 161 balustrades for the overlook. Each balustrade that was removed was numbered so it could be returned to its original location. Today, 75% of the balustrades are original to the garden. Forty-five new castings replaced the section that had fallen into the lake. (photo: Janice Heilmann)

The balustrade today. (Photo by Glenn Suokko. Used with permission from his book, The Formal Gardens of Shelburne Farms.)

A newly constructed (and not quite landscaped) lower garden, ca. 1914-1915. Note the pots containing Bay Trees. Lila Webb purchased no less than a dozen of these pots and four surviving pots were restored in Phase 3 (see below). (Shelburne Farms Archives)

(photo: Angelyn Bass, used with permission from The Formal Gardens at Shelburne Farms by Glenn Suokko.)

(photo: Neil Dixon, used with permission from The Formal Gardens at Shelburne Farms by Glenn Suokko.)

(photo: Angelyn Bass, used with permission from The Formal Gardens at Shelburne Farms by Glenn Suokko.)

(photo: Neil Dixon, used with permission from The Formal Gardens at Shelburne Farms by Glenn Suokko.)

The Lily Pool in June 2020 (Photo: Holly Brough)

PHASE 3: Upper garden walls and stairs (2017)

The grand allee (ca. 1913) is a focal point of the Formal Gardens today, planted in an adapted Gertrude Jekyll color scheme. Head Gardener Birgit Deeds carefully removed the plant materials to allow workers to repair and reconstruct the built elements, stairways, and statuary. This included improving the drainage of perimeter walls to assure their long-term stability.

In 2015, masons began tackling the curved boundary wall of the northern pergola, as well as other walls in the north end of the garden. They repointed the mortar between the bricks, which had decayed and weathered over time, and reinforced plain concrete retaining walls.

(Photo: Rosalyn Graham)

Northern pergola wall after repointing. Note the Flemish bond brick coursing pattern, which alternates short and long bricks (headers and stretchers). The dark bricks were glazed and fired to achieve the black color. (Julie Eldridge Edwards)

Conservator Angelyn Bass, a consultant to the Formal Gardens Restoration Project, oversaw the repair and cleaning of cast stone and marble decorative elements, including wall caps, statuary, furniture, and urns. She conserved and repaired one of the two lions perched in the garden, as well as two of four surviving Italianate pots purchased by Lila Webb in 1909.

Two of the original, glazed terra cotta pots acquired from William Galloway Company of Philadelphia. After many years of use, the pots had cracked. Here they are prior to conservation work, with metal banding to keep them intact, 2006. (Julie Eldridge Edwards)

Pots being conserved using a custom-made âcradleâ to accommodate their girth and allow a binding resin to set. (Doug Porter/Angelyn Bass)

By 1918, wooden columned pergolas book-ended both the north and south ends of the gardens but both were dismantled following a hurricane in 1953. For over 60 years, nearly all of the original pieces of the south pergola were carefully stored away in the Coach Barn attic. In July 2015, the various pieces were removed, scraped, and repainted. The pergola was then reinstalled in its original location, with 99.5% original material, according to Doug Porter.

In the Breeding Barn, Doug Porter works on restoring the south pergola's columns. (Angelyn Bass)

To prepare the south pergola allee, we laid down new sod and Head Gardenerr Birgit Deeds designed new beds. The beds include French lilacs, a collection of peonies (donated anonymously), and globe thistle. The globe thistle is sympathetic to the original planting scheme (see photographs below).

The south pergola, circa 1920

The south pergola, summer 2020, 100 years later, with globe thistle. (photo: Holly Brough)

PHASE 4: The North Pergola Terrace

In the final phase of the restoration, craftspeople repaired the terrace of the North Pergola, in front of the arched wall that was repaired in 2015.

In April 2020, the terrace of the North Pergola was repaired.

Lila Webb envisioned and executed her Italianate gardens between 1909 and 1915. Our restoration efforts have run in about the same time frame, 100 years later! Thanks to all the skilled craftspeople, the leadership and dedication of Doug Porter and Birgit Deeds, and the support of many donors, this important historic American garden will continue to be enjoyed by many as a place of beauty, peaceful reflection, celebration, and learning.

If you are interested in supporting the ongoing care and maintenance of the Formal Gardens, through an endowment gift or otherwise, please contact Heidi Webb, Major Gifts Officer, hwebb@shelburnefarms.org, 802.985.0303

For a closer (and beautiful) look at the Formal Gardens and their restoration, see the recently published book, The Formal Gardens of Shelburne Farms by Glenn Suokko. Several images from his book are included in this blog, used with permission.

Holly Brough

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Thanks, nice post with great details of garden evolution and dates. Early garden details interesting as well as the various chambers of the formal gardens today. We are happy to see the Sukko book, it puts a cap on the efforts begun back in 2000 and further in our planning work, by Heritage Landscapes in 2004. Fun to read.

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Diving in search of Farm history (and future)

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 16:35:14 +0000

Diving in search of Farm history (and future) admin Wed, 07/08/2020 - 12:35

Guest blogger, Dave Potter, is a local resident and diving enthusiast. This blog is adapted from his article that was originally published in the February 2020 issue of Quest: The Journal of Global Underwater Explorers, Vol. 21, No. 1. Used with permission. We thought you'd enjoy this trip underwater in the heat of the summer!

In getting ready for a dive off the coast of Lake Champlain a couple summers ago, I asked an acquaintance how deep local anglers run their fishing lines, and he asked me if I would be interested in helping Shelburne Farms locate an underwater water intake structure likely dating from the late 1800s. My local diving buddies and I all enjoy diving for many reasons--to practice skills, try out a new piece of equipment, or just to get in the water. But we all like to have a purpose. This was a unique one.

The Farm is considering using its old drinking water infrastructure to enhance its fire-suppression system. (The Farm’s Old Dairy Barn was destroyed by lightning in 2016). It needed divers to inspect the underwater structure to see if it was still usable.

Based on information from a diver in the early 1980s, Marshall Webb thought the pipe was located 300 feet offshore at about 20-30 feet deep. He also knew about where the pipe started near the shore. We didn’t think it would take more than one dive to locate the start of the pipe and follow it out to the intake. We were wrong.

Dave Potter diving in Lake Champlain on his search for the water intake structure.
DIVE 1: We entered the water from the shore, located the intake pipe, and swam along it, towing our diver propulsion vehicles (DPVs) in case anything unpredictable happened. After about 1,400 feet of swimming, the intake pipe disappeared into the silt at 20 feet deep.

DIVE 2: To explore the pipe below the silt, we brought a primary reel and two 3-foot long fiberglass poles to where the pipe disappeared. We installed the first pole, tied the reel to it, and started slowly probing the silt for the intake pipe while running the reel. We ran the entire line without locating the intake structure. Leaving the pole and reel, we headed back to shore.

DIVE 3: We scootered out to the first reel, tied in a new one, and continued probing for the water pipe. After about 200 more ft of line, the pipe emerged from the silt and we found the intake structure!

The structure, sitting on a fully intact wood and rock cribbing, was an amazing sight as it appeared out of the dark, flat, and featureless bottom of the lake, 47 feet below the surface. We informally inspected it and found the intake screens were in great shape with no visible zebra mussel infestation. We took some video, then returned to shore, cutting the reels free as we left, but leaving the line so that we could find the structure on future dives.

A photo of the water intake structure next to a 3D model of it created from the photos. The structure is about 16 feet high, and roughly 12 ft x 12 ft at the base.

DIVE 4: For this dive, we worked with Civil Engineering Associates (CEA) to get an accurate location of the intake structure, and put our new photogrammetry skills to use! To determine the approximate path and length of pipe, we followed the line to the intake structure, towing a GPS receiver attached to our dive flag. We then attached a SMB (surface marker buoy) to the intake so that the surface team could get its precise GPS location. For the next 25 minutes, I took 649 photos of the structure, which were used to create a 3D model.

DIVE 5: We conducted one more dive to take rough measurements of the structure. It is about 16 feet high; roughly 12 ft x 12 ft at the base and 5 x 5 ft at the top, with a pipe 1 ft in diameter. We also know now that the water intake pipe is about 2,000 ft long from pumphouse to intake.

As for when and how the pipe and intake structure were installed, Shelburne Farms' Archives and old newspaper records helped reveal the story. An article from July 25, 1901 in the Chelsea Herald states, "J.G. Falcon, the diver, is at Shelburne Farms, to lay 2,000 feet of 12-inch pipe in the lake for the purpose of furnishing a supply for the farms." Later that same year, Shelburne Farms ledger entries record invoice payments to Falcon for "new intake" and "new intake pipe." Mystery solved.

The small barge in this circa 1901 photo was used to assist with the laying of the water pipe (in foreground). (T.E. Marr, circa 1900)

What’s next for the Farm? It will need to install a dry-hydrant near the original pumphouse to attach to the water intake pipe, then pump water through the pipe to make sure the entire pipe is clear and usable. The plan and schedule for this work has not yet been determined.

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Love the old Shelburne Farms history articles .. keep them coming ...

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