| From the tree in Wellesley that gave
Pine Manor its name, to the handsome oaks, maples, and evergreens
that grace our grounds today, the PMC community has been blessed
in the beauty of its surroundings. In abundance on the Chestnut
Hill campus are red, Norway, and sugar maples—dazzling in autumn—white
pines, crabapples, and hemlocks. In the fall, yew and euonymus colors
burst forth, brilliant foils to campus greenery. Resplendent in
spring are flowering magnolias, dogwoods, and cherries. And to adorn
our walks, there are sweet-smelling vibernums, and Pine Manor’s
famous rhododendrons blooming in June. |
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“Come forth
into the
light
of things.
Let Nature
be your
teacher.”
William Wordsworth
The Tables Turned
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John Hatch’s
Wish List
• Perennial garden around Founder’s
Room
• Relandscaping of the back of Ferry
Building
• Relandscaping of village areas
• Irrigation of Ferry Administration
Building
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The campus boasts many rarities too. Among them are the 35-foot-tall
American chestnut next to the gym, the white fir in front of the
President’s office, and a thundercloud plum cherry tree in
front of Dane. Other treasures include the gingko by South 5, a
goldfinch magnolia along the side of Ellsworth Hall, and two sweetgums,
one by the pond and another, successfully transplanted to the front
of West 5.
Plantings and landscaping have been carefully planned over the
years to complement buildings, and as in the construction of those,
to make use of the natural rocks and settings already in place.
Herbert Jacques and Augustus Rantoul, of Andrews, Jacques and
Rantoul of Boston (established in 1885), chose the Richardsonian
style when envisioning the Cox family’s estate. Henry Hobson
Richardson’s style was famous in the last decades of the
19th century, for example, Boston’s beautiful Trinity Church
in Copley Square. Rodman Henry, Art History Professor Emeritus,
reports in his architectural history of the campus, Journey in
Time, that Richardson was “quick to recognize that Romanesque
architecture echoed a more concrete statement of the stability
and individuality of the age while being more imaginatively adaptive
to the thinking and functional living quality of that day.”
Jacques and Rantoul followed suit when designing the Cox estate—
“particularly in the use of materials, using those which
were in natural abundance and readily obtainable.” One example
is the use of “pudding stone,” a local rock outcropping
in abundance throughout the campus, in Roughwood’s (Ferry
Administration building’s) ground floor.
Architects of later buildings maintained this same harmony between
old and new, and so have landscapers past and present. John Blair,
when he retired after 32 years as Grounds Director, reports that
he worked with the natural assets on campus, allowing for growth
while retaining what was typical and unique to the campus.
John Hatch, who took over in 1993 as Director of Grounds (after
15 years on the crew), continues this tradition, while adding
his own unique touch. Examples of the latter are the beautiful
garden burgeoning in front of the Campus Center. The “Class
of 1950 Garden,” endowed through the generosity of Barbara
“Babs” Koch, is a jewel adorned with carpet roses, azaleas,
rhododendrons, ornamental grasses, and annuals that vary from
year to year. Alongside, a dolphin sculpture by Katherine Tod
Johnstone, Class of 1941 (in honor of her 50th Reunion), has its
own “beach” setting. And nearby shines the memorial
garden planted by family and friends of Samantha Whitcomb, Class
of 1996.
Other alumnae gifts decorate the campus, flowering dogwoods and
cherries often the favorite gifts of graduating classes. A new
tradition is the bulbs that first-year students plant each spring
on the terrace leading down to Ellsworth—new flowers being
added each year. (See article in Winter 2001 Bulletin,
page 20.)
As we prepare this issue of the Bulletin, ‘tis winter,
with its own unique beauty: leafless trees silhouetted against
violet sunsets. But spring, summer, and the splendor of a New
England autumn soon will follow. So, feast your eyes—and
why not come back soon to delight in it all again?
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