Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. (1822-1903) is considered the founder of American landscape architecture. His most famous designs include New York City’s Central Park and the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, but he also created the protective ramada for Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Arizona. This seven-acre site outside Boston, Massachusetts was authorized in 1979 to preserve his house and the Olmsted Archives for future researchers.
Museum, film, office tour, Olmsted Archives
In 1883, Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. moved to Brookline, Massachusetts to establish the world’s first landscape design office. Self-guided exhibits and a short film inside his home (called Fairsted) are a good place to start before a ranger-guided tour of his office space full of historical artifacts and documents. Occasionally, rangers lead tours of some of Olmsted’s parks in “The Emerald Necklace” of Boston.
There is a short path on the property and you can also walk to nearby Brookline Reservoir.
Relax on the veranda of Fairsted before or after your tour, which is especially nice when it is raining like during our visit.
All roads are paved, but the parking lot is small and street parking in the surrounding neighborhood may be necessary. It is a bit of a walk from the Brookline Hills Subway Station.
Wompatuck State Park south of Boston has the nearest large campground, but camping is also allowed in parts of Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.
Boston National Historical Park (Massachusetts)
Adams National Historical Park (Massachusetts)
Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site (Massachusetts)
Explore More –Frederick Law Olmsted’s 1865 report was influential in the protection of which “crown jewel” of the National Park Service System?