After the death of A.R. Sargent in 1918,
the Coes hired the prestigious landscape firm of the Olmsted Brothers
of
Brookline, Massachusetts. The landscape architect from the firm
who was chiefly responsible for Planting Fields was James Frederick
Dawson, |

Carshalton Gates
|
who became a full partner in the firm in 1922
During this period, additions to the Main Greenhouse and Camellia
Greenhouse were completed, as well as the Beech Copse, Main Lawn, West
Lawn and
Heather Garden. Much of this work was done on the north side of Coe
Hall and resulted in the "naturalistic" look of the English
park landscape design that the Olmsted firm was known for. The Coes
purchased seedling evergreens and oaks from the New York State Conservation
Department to help fill out the original woodland areas of the estate
that had been blasted away to make meadowlands. Total landscaping costs
from 1918 through 1937 amounted to over
$1, 273, 000.
| One of the largest undertakings in this period of
landscape development was the installation of the Carsharlton Gates,
the Main Drive, and the Gate House in 1926. Walker and Gillette
designed the Gate House, while the design of the drive and the installation
of the gates were completed by James F. Dawson of the Olmsted Brothers
firm. |

Main Drive
|
The Main Drive was carefully landscaped by James F. Dawson to take
the visitor from groves of beeches, gradually revealing rolling lawns
and taxus fields up to Coe Hall. Mai and W.R. Coe purchased the 18th
century Carsharlton Park Gates while on a buying trip in England in
1921.
Sussex metal worker Thomas Robinson created the gates in 1711 for Sir
Thomas Scawen of London. Italian artisan Catalini carved the stone pillars
and John van Nost the Elder executed the massive lead sculptures of
Acteon and Artemis. The gates had been installed at Scawen's estate
Carshalton Park in Surrey, but the estate was never completed.
Originally, Coe planned to install the gates at the Planting Fields
Road entrance to the estate, but there was not enough room for the large
gates to be appreciated from an appropriate distance. To solve this
dilemma, the Coes purchased an additional five acres of land along Chicken
Valley Road and had the county move the road approximately fifty feet
at their expense in order to accommodate the gates and provide a spectacular
impression as visitors approached the estate.
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