Nathan Franklin Barrett: The Visionary Who Painted Cities with Gardens

November 19, 2024

On this day, we celebrate the birth of Nathan Franklin Barrett, a true pioneer in the art of landscape architecture, born in 1845.

Like a rebellious seedling breaking free from its prescribed plot, Barrett chose to forge his own path rather than join his father's dye company.

After answering the call of duty in the Civil War, Barrett found himself drawn to the verdant world of horticulture, cultivating his knowledge in his brother's nursery.

In 1866, when landscape architecture was but a tender shoot in the garden of professions, Barrett embarked on a journey that would shape the very earth beneath our feet.

Imagine, if you will, dear gardeners, a time when there were no neatly trimmed hedgerows of coursework to guide one's horticultural education.

Barrett, like a determined vine seeking the sun, found his way through sheer tenacity and an innate understanding of nature's rhythms.

As a town planner, Barrett's green fingers stretched far and wide, molding the landscapes of Dolgeville, New York, and Pullman, Illinois.

The latter, named for his dear friend George R. Pullman, blossomed into the nation's first planned industrial town—a garden of progress, if you will.

But it is Barrett's personal garden in New Rochelle that truly captivates the imagination.

On a mere half-acre, he created a horticultural wonderland that would make even the most seasoned gardener's heart flutter with delight.

Let us take a moment to envision this botanical tapestry:

[An] old fashioned Colonial garden, Japanese, Roman, and Moorish gardens, and English topiary work.

His cellar... opened to the garden level and through which a long vista continued.

[Barrett] also created a Normandy peasant's sitting room, a German peasant's kitchen, [and] a Pompeian Court.

A little brook at the rear of the property... added picturesque effects, and the garden was replete with pleasant little nooks and surprises at every turn.

And oh, how he embraced the wild!

A newspaper of the time painted a vivid picture of Barrett's untamed planting style:

The Poppy and the Ground Ivy, and Creeping Charlie and Myrtle mingle together; the Aster and Goldenrod feel at home; Ferns and Mosses are used liberally, and while abandon is aimed at, there is 'method in the madness,' and the wild garden and the formal play their part, each enhancing the charm of the other.

Barrett's influence extended far beyond his own garden gate.

As co-founder and later president of the American Society of Landscape Architects, he nurtured the growth of his profession for half a century.

By the time he was called to the great garden in the sky in 1919, he had earned the distinction of being the oldest living Landscape Architect in the United States.

In 1902, Barrett journeyed to Los Angeles to share his wisdom, though fate, like an unexpected frost, silenced his voice with a cold.

Yet, his words, read aloud by another, bloomed in the minds of his audience. Let us savor a morsel of his sage advice:

The line between the store and the residence is a battle line. As the business increases, the residence is forced back.

The only remedy for this insight is to make the transition as inoffensive as possible.

He goes on to extol the virtues of urban greenery:

[And] let us ask the object of taking the valuable space In the city for lawns.

Is it not to relieve the buildings? I think so.

Barrett's vision extended to the practical aspects of maintaining these urban oases:

[And] the pushcart picking up rubbish is as Important as the trees and flowers.

Neatness is as contagious as a new bonnet, and a clean face becomes a habit and is an excellent rivalry to encourage.

As we tend our own gardens today, let us remember Nathan Franklin Barrett, whose legacy continues to bloom in the landscapes that surround us.

May his innovative spirit and love for both wild and formal gardens inspire us to create our own little Edens, no matter how modest our plots may be.