Landscape Improvements, 1918-1944

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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Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park and Coe Hall Is Located 1395 Planting Fields Road Oyster Bay, NY 11771 (516) 922-9200

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