Chasse, Patrick Patrick Chesse L Polor 118 Mt. Desert, ME 04660-0118 Moss King@aol.com BEATRIX FARRAND SOCIETY at GARLAND FARM P.O. Box 111, Mt. Desert, ME 04660 http://members.aol.com//savegarlandfarm/ Chasse wins garden award By Anne Kozak MOUNT DESERT Novelist Roxana Robinson's garden at Wa- termark on Somes Sound, de- signed landscape architect Patrick Chasse, has been recognized for its use of native plants by the New England Wildflower Society. Mr. Chasse recently received the Wildflower Society's first land- scape design award - an honor that marks the 75th anniversary of Garden in the Woods, the society's Framingham headquarters and a garden which displays 1,500 native plant species of North America. The plan for the garden at Wa- termark on Mount Desert Island was one of Mr. Chasse's designs featured at the awards ceremony in recognition of the achievement of a New England architect who has specialized in using native plants in exceptional or distinctive land- scape compositions. "The gardens are organized in two parts: the interior, courtyard garden and everything else," said Ms. Robinson. "The courtyard garden - in my mind - is a foliage garden. The idea of the [garden outside the courtyard] is to make the propèrty blend seamlessly into the surrounding woodlands and to make it available to the local fauna - birds, butterflies, moths and mammals who were here before we arrived." To achieve this mix of a retreat in the courtyard garden - a garden ANNE KOZAK PHOTO of mostly green and silver foliage Novelist Roxanna Robinson's garden and its creators has been with a few flowers - and the seam- lauded for its use of native plants. less blend in the woods surround- ing the house and going down to the shore, Ms. Robinson enlisted Together they created the refuge onlies, humming birds and but- the help of Mr. Chasse Ms. Robinson sought, a woodland terflies," said Ms. Robinson. garden nestled among tall conifers. In the more open space be- The garden juxtaposes tall conifers tween the house and garage, Ms. with smaller shrubs such as Robinson has planted native baneberry and high bush blue- grasses. And on the south side of berry and stands of native ferns in- the house in raised beds and cluding Christmas, cinnamon, fenced to keep out the deer is a Islander hay-scented, lady, interrupted, small vegetable and herb garden maidenhair, ostrich, narrow beech, along with milkweed plants to feed royal and sensitive ferns. Beneath monarch butterflies. Dec 2007. the shrubs and lining the paths go- When the Robinsons first ing to the shore and wrapping thought about building on Mount around the house are native Desert Island, they knew they groundcovers such as winterberry, wanted the house in Maine to be partridgeberry, mountain cran- quiet, peaceful, cool, a refuge, in berry, bunchberry and low bush theory a refuge garden recalled blueberry Ms. Robinson. She did not want "This native community creates herbaceous borders. "No delphini- a rich network of interdependence ums, roses, no colors, no flowers," that supports and encourages local she said although there are a few wildlife - fox, chipmunks, porcu- white flowers in the courtyard gar- pine, covote, deer. frogs, bees drag- den. Mount Desert Islander THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2007. Beatrix Farrand's legacy lives on By Mary Jones XC "It was SOUTHWEST HARBOR Noted landscape architect Patrick Chassé spoke with fascinating!" humor and passion as he re- Mimi Houghton counted the remarkable career of landscape designer Beatrix Far- rand. Mr. Chassé was the fea- wanted both naturalism and scien- tured speaker Jul 19 at the Clare- mont Inn. tific order. Her greatest love was for vines which covered the walls of Born in New York in 1872, her home. Beatrix Jones (later Farrand) summered at her family's cottage, Following a decline in interest Reef Point, in Bar Harbor. It was in Reef Point, Mrs. Farrand de- cided to dismantle the estate. The there that her love of plants devel- oped as she roamed the Maine house was taken down and por- tions of it were used to create a set woods. In 1890 she moved to Massa- of apartments at the Garland chusetts where she apprenticed farmhouse in Salisbury Cove. It was here that she lived until her under renowned landscaper death in 1959 under the care of her Charles Sprague Sargent. Under his friends, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Gar- tutelage, she trained her eye toward the movement of naturalist design. land. Mrs. Farrand brought with her to Garland Farm a selection of On returning to New York, she set up her own studio after acquiring her favorite plants. The greater knowledge of drafting and survey- part of her gardens were taken and ing - skills usually not taught to used by landscaper Charles Savage women in that day. in his own designs including the Asticou Gardens in Northeast Reef Point later became home Harbor. for her and her husband Max Far- rand. Throughout her career on Mrs. Farrand was a pioneer in Mount Desert Island, she designed her field; her designs left a legacy of many of the gardens for summer original, naturalistic design. residents, including the Scott and It is this legacy that Mr. Chassé, Burn families of Bar Harbor and a landscape architect himself, is the Rockefeller family of Seal Har- working on preserving. He has or The Burn and Rockefeller gar- been restoring the Garland farm estate to what it was when Mrs. dens still exist. Many of the island Farrand lived there. "It will be a MARY JONES PHO gardens she designed were de- stroyed during the Great Fire of museum, design and horticulture Landscape architect Patrick Chassé speaks to a gathering at th 947. Mrs. Farrand is also credited center," said Mr. Chassé. He wants Claremont Inn. with several gardens across the it to be a place where both students country and one in England. and garden connoisseurs can enjoy Mrs. Farrand's love of plants led and learn. The search for her origi- er to a desire to create a horticul- nal sketches and blueprints has led ire learning center at her estate. him to libraries across the country and even into the occasional for- he collection of native and exotic lants she brought to the place was gotten attic box. Mr. Chasse's lecture received a onsidered the largest and most omplete north of Boston. When warm responsive. "It was fascinat- signing the layout Mrs. Farrand ing! I didn't know about all the gar- dens." said Mimi Houghton of Northeast Harbor. news@mdislander.com 8/14/17 Mount Desert Islander SECTION 2 PAGE 3 Chassé, Mancinelli will discuss historic landscapes BAR HARBOR in landscape architecture and Landscape architect Patrick taught at the Arnold Arbore- Chassé and College of the At- tum and the Graduate School lantic Charles Eliot Professor of Design of Harvard Univer- of Ecological Planning, Policy sity. He also was the curator and Design Isabel Mancinelli of landscape at the Isabella will talk about Mount Desert Stewart Gardner Museum. He Island's iconic landmarks in the is considered an authority on last Coffee and Conversation the five historic gardens on the of the summer in the Thomas island - Reef Point, Asticou S. Gates Jr. Community Center Azalea Garden, Thuya Garden, on Tuesday, Aug. 29, at 9am. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Gar- Chassé is an MDI landscape den and Garland Farm. architect specializing in histor- COA's Coffee and Conver- ic landscapes, reconstruction sation Series spans the cul- of natural plant communities tural, political and social is- and design of new gardens, sues shaping our world. Guest both . residential and institu- speakers include writers, sci- tional. He and Mancinelli will entists, business leaders and discuss MDI's historic land- artists. Conversations take scapes and how we can pre- place weekly at College of the ISLANDER FILE PHOTO serve and integrate them with Atlantic's Eden Street campus our modern lives. through August. A focus on Patrick Chassé will speak at College of the Atlantic on Chassé graduated from the the humanities and pressing Aug. 29. Harvard Graduate School of topical issues characterized Design with a master's degree this summer's events. 6/19/2015 A new respect for horticulture arts The Boston Globe UP TO Origin 70% OFF SAVE NOW Your Life your connection to The Boston Globe Home News A&E Business Sports Travel Your Life Cars Jobs Personals Real Estate Sign In Register Now Health & Fitness Celebrations House & Home Fashion Relationships Message Boards For Sale Your Photos Advertisement HOME > YOUR LIFE > HOUSE & HOME GARDENING The Boston Globe A new respect for horticulture arts By Carol Stocker, Globe Staff January 20, 2005 On a winter day, the courtyard of the Gardner Museum is the most beautiful spot in Boston. This formal indoor garden of flowers interspersed with ancient Greco-Roman sculptures is surrounded by four stories of stone columns and balconies plucked from Europe more than 100 years ago by Isabella Stewart Gardner. The fabulously wealthy diva then capped her Venetian palazzo-style museum with a then-revolutionary glass roof to create a year-round Mediterranean garden for visitors. For the past two years, landscape architect Patrick Chasse has been "deliciously" delving into archives and doing "subtle tweaking" to return the iconic courtyard closer to Gardner's version. His appointment last week as the museum's first "curator of landscape" formalizes his role and A perk for Gardner curator of elevates the horticultural element of a museum created by an audacious connoisseur who landscape Patrick Chasse is that he considered gardening another branch of the arts. gets to walk in the museum's interior courtyard, closed to visitors since at "The Gardner Museum is a uniquely visual and aesthetic museum combining all of the arts, least 1924. (Globe Staff Photo / John Tlumacki) including fine art, music, and horticulture," said director Anne Hawley. Noting that the museum's formal music program was created after the benefactor's death, she added, "We hope Patrick's LATEST YOUR LIFE addition to our wonderful team of curators will have an equally lasting effect on the museum, and GALLERIES: the visibility and importance of the horticultural arts." Photos of icon jean styles Maria Menounos Chasse will deliver his first lecture as a Gardner curator, "Gardens and the Mind's Eye," Saturday Mass. appeal at 1:30 p.m. at the museum. The event will also mark the debut of a new visitor's guide to the Beyond the pint glass courtyard describing its botanical and horticultural treasures and containing some of the old Home sweet home show photographs that helped guide Chasse. For instance, Chinese garden seats shaped like porcelain Brimfield Antique Show barrels were returned to the garden based on one of the photos. Model behavior When good toys go bad "[The photographs] showed that the courtyard had more shrubbery that made it feel like a garden Red Sox (Animal) Nation as you walked into it," said Chasse. Party it up, Solie-style Soxy style Of course, the courtyard has not been open to visitors at least since 1924, when Gardner died. Drive-in memories Chasse said he would love to open it for special events "if it reaches the point where it's stable Celtics Dancers finals enough. It's on my wish list - but a long way out. She had wonderful private parties in the Simpsons in Springfield courtyard with orange Japanese lanterns," added Chasse, with a touch of yearning. "A friend of This place is a ZOO mine who is in his 80s has a description from his father's memoirs of attending one." Calendar girls The next Gisele? The horticultural exhibit in the courtyard changes nine times a year, a practice that will continue, Previous Your Life features with the current yellow jasmine trees, white azaleas, and jade trees and cyclamen giving way in More in Your Life March to cineraria, calla lilies, and orange trees from the museum greenhouses. The famous hanging nasturtiums in April are followed by hydrangeas in May, delphiniums in June, fuchsia BOSTON.COM'S MOST E- trees in July, campanula in August, and then a big fall chrysanthemum show, and finally the MAILED SEARCH THE ARCHIVES much-loved Christmas display. It's a garden that anyone would envy, always filled with perfect flowers. GO But it has a dirty little secret: The courtyard is not terribly hospitable to plants. Though it looks Today (free) aglow with natural light to the visitor, most plants find it too shady. And the ground cover of baby's tears needs continual patching because of poor drainage. Chasse is introducing mosses. "It's a Yesterday (free) little swampy. Like a terrarium," he confided. Past 30 days Last 12 months http://www.boston.com/yourlife/home/articles/2005/01/20/a_new_respect_.for_horticulture_arts/?page=fu 1/3 6/19/2015 A new respect for horticulture arts The Boston Globe Many plants must be rotated, as they commonly are in office buildings. Some have understudies Advanced search / Historic Archives in the greenhouse that take turns performing in the courtyard, explained Chasse. "It's like a stage set. A Metropolitan Opera-type of stage set. And [head gardener] Stan Kozak is the stage master ADVERTISEMENT extraordinaire." Old photos also showed palm trees going up to the second balcony. "As the palms died, they were not replaced, leaving a more simplified display of just potted plants," said Chasse. But rather than reintroduce in-ground palm trees, he has added potted fish tail palms to the corners because they provide height but are lightweight and easily moved when they need a vacation. Chasse would also like to "tweak" the Monk's Garden, a shady outside yard installed by Gardner and open to the public during the warmer months. He is considering staging outdoor exhibits of garden sculpture and ornaments there. A museum addition is planned for 2011 and one of Chasse's most important jobs will be to work with architect Renzo Piano designing the surroundings for the new wing, perhaps with spaces for changing outdoor "galleries" of plants and sculpture that could also be viewed from inside. The area in question is currently inhabited by trees, parking lots, and staging space, "but they're not sacred like the courtyard or the Monk's garden because they were built after Isabella died," said Chasse. "Curator of landscapes" is a recent title in museum work, used mostly by historic houses and their gardens, such as Winterthur, a leading decorative arts museum and naturalistic estate garden in Delaware. Several years ago, Historic New England (formerly SPNEA) created such a post for its many historic properties. Chris Patzke is the new occupant of that position. While Kozak does the technical planning as head gardener, Chasse explained, "I will be dealing more with design, landscape history, interpretation, and educational programs related to horticulture." Based on Mount Desert Island in Maine, Chasse also maintains a studio in the Brickbottom Building in Somerville. A graduate of the Harvard School of Design, he has taught there and at the Radcliffe Seminars Program, now renamed the Landscape Institute. The garden historian has recently completed an Ottoman garden reconstruction in Istanbul and led last year's successful efforts to purchase and preserve Garland Farm on Mount Desert Island, the last home and garden of Beatrix Farrand (1872-1959), America's first woman landscape architect. "My firm is just me basically, spread all over the map," said Chasse, who has a waiting list of clients. Isabella Stewart Gardner in her lifetime maintained the museum's greenhouses at her famous 40- acre garden in Chestnut Hill, which was called Green Hill. That's long gone, and today Kozak and his staff of six use 6,000 square feet of greenhouse space behind the museum, plus a 12,000- square-foot greenhouse on the Hunnewell Estate in Wellesley. That's where the museum's best- loved horticultural tradition, the 20-foot cascading vines of orange nasturtiums, are grown (horizontally) before being hung in the courtyard each year on April 14, Gardner's birthday. In another floral tradition, violets are displayed in season in a silver cup under "Christ Carrying the Cross" by the school of Giovanni Bellini, as specified by the Grande Dame. But there are limits to historic fidelity, even at Mrs. Gardner's museum. "She put pots of flowers in the Greek sarcophagus in the courtyard, using it as a cache pot!" said Chasse, chuckling. "If we did that today," added Kozak, "we'd make the conservation people very unhappy." Only Isabella could do exactly as she wished. Tickets for Chasse's lecture are $7 for members, $15 for nonmembers, $11 for seniors, and free for students. They can be reserved by calling TicketWeb at 866-468-7619 or on line at gardnermuseum.org. © Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company. 12 More: Globe Life at Home stories House & Home section Globe front page Boston.com http://www.boston.com/yourlife/home/articles/2005/01/20/a_new_respect_for_horticulture_arts/?page=full 2/3 PRESS RELEASE Here is advance notice that the Winner of our new Landscape Design Award (embargoed until Nov 4, 2007 at 1:30.) is a Maine resident. I hope you can cover the event and share this news of the premiere of the award. Two other Maine residents will be awarded, as well. Images are available-I'm back in for questions tomorrow morning. CONTACT: Debra Strick, Marketing and PR Director 508.877.7630 x3501 dstrick@newenglandWILD.org Images available MEMBERS OF THE PRESS INVITED TO THE CEREMONY AT GARDEN IN THE WOODS BEGINNING 1:30 11/4/07 PRESS RELEASE Embargoed until 1:30 pm Sunday, November 4, 2007 NEW ENGLAND WILD FLOWER SOCIETY ANNOUNCES LANDSCAPE DESIGN AWARD WINNER Framingham, Massachusetts The New England Wild Flower Society, America,s oldest plant conservation organization, honors Patrick Chassé, ASLA of Mt. Desert Island, Maine with the first New England Wild Flower Society Landscape Design Award. The award recognizes the achievements of a New England-based firm or individual specializing in landscape architecture or design with a long-term commitment to the use of native plants in exceptional or distinctive landscape compositions. The Society launches the award in 2007 to mark the 75th anniversary of Garden in the Woods, Society headquarters and world-renowned living museum, displaying 1,500 of the native plant species and cultivars of North America. The award calls attention to the use of native plants for sustainable and beautiful landscapes. The awards ceremony takes place at the Society's annual meeting on November 4th, 2007. "This award is the highest level of recognition I can imagine for my work," says Chassé. "Since my childhood wanderings in the woodlands of northern Maine, I have been interested in the way humans and their cultural paraphernalia fit into the natural fabric of the earth One of my goals for the landscape is to tie it into its natural context. Utilizing native plants is a way to blend into the regional character without undermining the sophistication of any landscape design. Achieving a balance between concept and context provides the best harmonic for serene living on the land.% Chasse,s dual background both in design and in botany and natural systems allows him to understand the basic plant communities of any region, and to create works that are sympathetic both ecologically and aesthetically. "Watermark,% a residence on Mt. Desert Island in Maine is one of the Chassé projects that will be highlighted at the awards ceremony at the Society,s Annual Meeting on November 4th at headquarters at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, MA. Patrick Chassé, based in Mt. Desert Island, Maine, designs residential landscapes and some campus and institutional landscapes on the East coast of the U.S. from the tropics up to Maine, incorporating a broad range of cultural influences. He received a Bachelors degree in Biology and a Masters of Environmental Education from the University of Maine in Orono and graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Design with a second Masters in Landscape Architecture. He also attended the Haystack School of Crafts in Deer Isle, ME, and Sheffield University in Sheffield, England where he was a visiting lecturer. He has also taught at the Arnold Arboretum and the Graduate School of Design of Harvard University and has served as Curator of Landscape at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, MA since 2005. Featured in publications worldwide, his designs may be seen in Page Dickey,s Breaking Ground: Portraits of Ten Garden Designers, Denise Otis, Grounds for Pleasure: Four Centuries of the American Garden, and periodicals such as House & Garden, Architectural Digest, Abitare, Town & Country, and Gardens Illustrated. The Awards Committee is chaired by Clara Batchelor, Principal and Founder of CBA Landscape Architects of Somerville, Massachusetts, and Trustee of the Society. Admired for her outstanding urban and suburban contextual landscapes, Clara won a Boston Society of Landscape Architecture award for Harriet Tubman Park in Boston and was also recognized for her work at the Farnworth Museum of Rockland, Maine. She says, "Patrick has been a leader in promoting the use of native plants in contemporary landscape design." "We are delighted to present Patrick Chassé with this award, recognizing his dedication and leadership in the use of native plants. I hope this award helps the public and professionals recognize the important role these plants play in garden composition,%e says distinguished landscape designer and Landscape Design Award Chairman Gary Koller of Koller & Associates of Stoughton, Massachusetts. Gary is known for producing beautiful garden designs in Boston, and received the Gold Medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for his work. Koller will present the award at the ceremonies at Society headquarters at Garden in the Woods. Rather than focusing on an individual project, the Landscape Design Award recognizes an organization or individual for a body of work created over time. The emphasis is on naturalistic or creative use and interpretation of native plants in plantings designed, built, and maintained in New England. In future years, it will be awarded as exceptional candidates are identified and not necessarily on an annual basis. To nominate a worthy individual or organization for consideration or to submit an application, please contact Karen Pierce at kpierce@newenglandwild.org, 508-877-7630 X 3801. Please request the official entry form. Drawings, visual images and plant lists are required as part of the application. As part of the review process, a panel of judges visits the sites of the finalists. New England Wild Flower Society also recognizes worthy individuals and organizations with awards for service, conservation, education, and gardens, both public and private. The Society gives awards to organizations and individuals in all six New England states with presentations at its annual meeting in November of each year. See the complete list at www.newenglandwild.org. Please contact Karen Pierce of the Awards Committee for information about the Landscape Design Award, or other Society awards, or to nominate a worthy individual or organization. - END- Beatrix Farrand A list of her work, made by Mrs. Farrand about 1950. Dr. Robert Abbe Pool, dam and garden, Bar Harbor, Maine Arnold Arboretum Occasional consultant, Jamaica Plain, Mass. Mrs. Walter Ayer Garden, Bar Harbor, Maine Miss Charlotte Baker Garden, Bar Harbor, Maine Mrs. Gerrish Beale Garden, Bar Harbor, Maine Mr. Cortlandt F. Bishop The Winter Palace, Lenox, Mass. Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss Occasional consultant, Casa Dorinda, Santa Barbara, California Mr. and Mrs. Robert Design for grounds and gardens, Dumbarton Woods Bliss Oaks, Washington, D.C. Mrs. William H. Bliss Drainage of field, Bar Harbor, Maine Mrs. James Byrne Design for garden, Bar Harbor, Maine California Institute of Occasional consultant, planting at a few build- Technology ings Mrs. Alfred Coats Design of garden at Bar Harbor, Maine, and Newport, Rhode Island Mr. Thomas Condon Terraces at Tuxedo Park, New York Mrs. Edward K. Dunham Garden, Seal Harbor, Maine Mrs. Roswell Eldridge Design for Garden, Great Neck, Long Island, New York Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Remodeling and planting of grounds, Dart- Elmhirst ington Hall, Totnes, South Devon, England Mrs. Elliott Consultation, Ruxton Park, Maryland Mrs. Shepard Fabbri Preliminary design for grounds, Bar Harbor, Maine Mr. Thomas W. Farnham Town Garden, New Haven, Connecticut Miss Lucy Frelinghuysen Consultant for garden, Northeast Harbor, Maine Greenfield, Connecticut Planting of Village Green, 1896-97 Dr. George Ellery Hale Observatory garden, Pasadena, California Hamilton College Consultation by request of Hon. Elihu Root Mrs. Morgan Hamilton Garden consultant, Table Rock, Sterlington, New York Mr. William Pierson Garden, Bar Harbor, Maine Hamilton Mr. Edward J. Hancy Occasional consultant, Tuxedo Park, New York Mrs. Marcus Hanna Garden, Seal Harbor, Maine Mrs. Edward S. Harkness Remodeling of garden, New London, Conn. Mrs. Edward S. Harkness Planting at Woodlawn Cemetery, New York Mr. Henry Frazer Harris Design for ground and garden, Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania Harvard University Consulting landscape gardener, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. Mr. Harry G. Haskell Terraces and garden, Northeast Harbor, Maine Mr. Henry E. Hatfield Garden, Bar Harbor, Maine Mrs. Morris Hawkes Design for garden, Bar Harbor, Maine Hill School, Pottstown, The Master's Garden Pa. 49 Page 1 of 1 From: Ron Epp From To "Patrick Chasse" Date 03/25/2010 11:20:25 Hi Patrick, The other day I received my copy of the Spring BFS Newsletter and read with pleasure your review of Carmen's compilation. As you point out, her first handwritten journal entries involve her Bar Harbor experiences--including a visit to Oldfarm. By an odd coincidence, that review was brought to my attention again when I lunched yesterday with Alan Emmet. She and I had been exchanging correspondence about Mr. Dorr since 2003 and since she is nearby in Westport, we finally managed to get together at her lovely home. She also referred to your lecture last Saturday. I wish I had known about it for I would have made the trip to the Gardner to hear you speak! Alan was much interested in the situation at The Mount and so I brought along my copy the 2006 conference papers which had just been published this past fall. She is quite a lady! Given your level of activity, I trust that your health has been restored. Will you be traveling to MDI in the months ahead? Elizabeth and I are scheduled to be there for a week beginning June 21st, staying at the Atlantic Eyrie Inn. The Dorr manuscript was completed this past January and sent off to Robin Karson for the start of the editorial process. I have the good fortune of having Jane Roy Brown as my editor and so the chapters are now being returned to me for resolution of questions and my personal approval. I've given Jane a free hand, recognizing that it is overly long, far too detailed by my own preoccupation with historical minutia. Now I'm selecting the illustrations, trying to decide on their placement, and beginning the process of securing the necessary permissions. I am also involved in her efforts to secure funding for its publication and to that end we've recently sent letters of inquiry to the C.F. Adams Chaitable Trust and the Quimby Family Foundation. Do you have any funding suggestions? Elizabeth is still working 32-hours/week at Lowell General Hospital, on the eve of her retirement. The last eighteen months have been a real taxing period for her. Her parents lived in a continuing care health facility in eastern Pennsylvania for nearly two decades and over Thanksgiving 2008 they could no longer live independently. As their only child, we had to dispose of their possessions as they relocated to more intensive care. At 93 and 97 years of age, they passed away within eight days of one another in March 2009. You know all too well the impact of such rites of passage. I miss seeing you. I hope that we can get together. If you ever get a momentary impulse to escape Somerville, pack a bag and head north toward Nashua. You are always welcome here! As ever, Ron Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. 47 Pondview Drive Merrimack, NH 03054 (603) 424-6149 eppster2@myfairpoint.net Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. 47 Pondview Drive Merrimack, NH 03054 (603) 424-6149 eppster2@myfairpoint.net https://webmail.myfairpoint.net/hwebmail/mail/message.php?index=96 3/25/2010 Page 1 of 1 From Ron Epp From To "Patrick Chasse" Date Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:11:28 -0500 Dear Patrick, It has been far too long since I emailed you! My apologies. Rarely has a week gone by when I didn't wonder about your health--and later, your whereabouts. I've had time to do more wondering than usual for I've been largely housebound since Thanksgiving with prostatitis. I've been reassurred that this has nothing to do with prostate cancer but 15-30 minutes of bad pain after every urination promotes diagnostic doubt, especially when the antibiotics and antinflammatory drugs don't work. Anyway, enough of that! I'm hoping to get up to MDI next month to resolve some loose ends that keep reappearing as I finalize the chapters that I've begin sending off to Robin Karson at the Library of American Landscape History. By the way, it appears that the papers we presented at The Mount in 2006 will finally be published this Spring. I was delighted when Judith Tankard asked me to write the lead article for the Winter 2009 BSF News but it was difficult to condense all that could be said into the confines of one page. Elizabeth continues working 32-hours per week at Lowell General Hospital. In recent months her 93 and 97 year old parents have taken a severe turn for the worse and so we've been painfully traveling to Pennsylvania to attend to them and their finances. Drop us a brief line! We'd love to hear from you ! ! Ron Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. 47 Pondview Drive Merrimack, NH 03054 (603) 424-6149 eppster2@myfairpoint.net https://webmail.myfairpoint.net/hwebmail/mail/message.php?index=102 2/26/2009 Page 1 of 1 Re: Ron Epp: Attachment From "Patrick Chasse" To Date Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:02:32 -0500 Attachments 1492.pdf [ 1.04 MB ] Bravo!!! Terrific timely letter, reminding us of blessings that help counteract all the chaos and misery now cast about the planet. I got back early in January from my southern California "radiation vacation" and am settling back in--thermally and culturally--to the Boston bubble. I'm assuming full banishment of the C-beast, and have only 3 years of follow up tests to be absolutely sure. Glad that's all behind me. My batteries are still not up to full capacity, and seem to run down faster, so I'm still in "recharge" mode, sleeping 8-10 hours a night and needing a 2-3 hour "makeup" nap to boot. Much better than when I returned from sunny CA, but still on the mend. I've had enough nuclear energy injected to power a small Maine town, so it's a little frustrating that the personal energy is somewhat elusive. The good news is that the brain is rebooting and the focus is coming back (out of the fog) and I'm able to more clearly tackle the mounds of paperwork and messages that accumulated in my absence--including the whole new world of medical bills and insurance. I wonder if I should I start applying to nursing homes now? Will you write a letter of recommendation??? I did bursts of garden visiting in California, including Getty Villa, New Getty, Huntington, and Norton-Simon. Didn't make it to Santa Barbara for Farrand tracking, though. Visited a wonderful isolated native palm oasis on an Indian reservation just east of Palm Springs, and picked up the attached bumper sticker. Should I send it, belatedly, to Mr. Bush? I recommence monthly Maine migrations next weekend, and resume settling in to my Somesville nest. Hope to see you in Maine this season. Regards to Elizabeth. Cordially, Patrick Patrick Chassé, ASLA 1 Fitchburg Street, C-211 Somerville, MA 02143-2139 Tel. (617)629-7736 https://webmail.myfairpoint.net/hwebmail/mail/message.php?index=275 2/26/2009 Verizon Yahoo! Mail 1- eppster2@verizon.net Page 1 of 2 Verizon Yahoo! Mail Verizon Central Yahoo! Search: Web Search Welcome, eppster2@verizon. Mail Home All-New Mail Tutorials Help [Sign Out, Member Center MAIL Classic Mail Contacts Calendar Notepad Mail For Mobile - Options Check Mail Compose Search Mail Search the Web Folders [Add Edit] Previous I Next I Back to Messages Inbox (18) Delete Reply Forward Spam Move Draft This message is not flagged. [ Flag Message - Mark as Unread Printable View Sent Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 08:34:30 -0500 Bulk [Empty] From: "Patrick Chasse" View Contact Details Add Mobile Alert Trash [Empty] Subject: Re: Garden Award My Folders [Hide] To: "ELIZABETH and RONALD EPP" Eliz messages (2) Member Information Delightful to hear from you, though the news of your arthritic trials Ron Archives (26) brings an in voluntary "ouch" reaction. I hope your PT is progressing well an that Search Shortcuts you will be fully restored. My Photos The NEWFS award was very gratifying, but I'm afraid the MDIslander onl My Attachments got it partly right: although the Robinson garden was one of the most recent and most interesting gardens considered in the larger portfolio of work, the award was actually for a body of 30 years' work with native plants--a more satisfying recognition from my point of view. The official NEWFS press release, which the Islander seems to have largely ignored, carried a lot more information. I attach it for your edification, since you've invoked Dorr in the same paragraph (also an honor). We can arrange for a peek at Robinson's on one of your visits this summer. Speaking of Robinson, I just secured a copy of the July 1914 National Geographic with his article on the new park, on e-Bay. Do you have that?? I'm happy to copy or scan it for you. I'm cutting back a bit on my Gardner time, now that things are pretty much on track, and working more from my more spacious studio. The claustrophobia and chafing of three people in the 6 X 10 foot office undermines my concentration and efficiency, as well as that of my assistants. With a more flexible schedule, I hope to be freer to travel here and abroad, and a planning a full month in Japan next fall to work on my moss book. I'm back and forth between Maine and Somerville--heading up to Maine this weekend for a week--but the balance is more to city over the winter. I http://us.f842.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=3336_4942268_109915_2064_112... 1/16/2008 Verizon Yahoo! Mail - eppster2@verizon.net Page 2 of 2 hope to get larger blocks of time in Maine over the warm months. After a tumultuous year of losing 6 close older friends, including my mom, I aim to get back to a more normal rhythm of life there. Keep me posted as to your research migrations, when you return to your normal rhythm. You are always welcome in Somerville--whether or not I am present--as a base of operations. Regards to Elizabeth. Cheers, Patrick Delete Reply Forward Spam Move. Previous I Next I Back to Messages Save Message Text I Full Headers Check Mail Compose Search Mail Search the Web Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. I Copyright/IP Policy | Terms of Service I Send Feedback I Help NOTICE: We collect personal information on this site. To learn more about how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy. verizon http://us.f842.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=3336_4942268_109915_2064_112...1/16/2008 Verizon Yahoo! Mail-eppster2@verizon.net Page 1 of 2 Verizon Yahoo! Mail Verizon Central Yahoo! Search: Web Search® Welcome, eppster2@verizon. Mail Home Tutorials Help YAHOO! (c) verizon [Sign Out, Member Center MAIL Mail Addresses Calendar Notepad Mail For Mobile - Options Check Mail Compose Search Mail Search the Web Folders [Add Edit] Previous I Next I Back to Messages Inbox (4) Delete Reply Forward Spam Move Draft This message is not flagged. [ Flag Message - Mark as Unread Sent Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2007 07:23:52 -0400 Bulk [Empty] From: "Patrick Chasse" H View Contact Details Add Mc Trash [Empty] Subject: Re: The Epps on MDI My Folders [Hide] To: "ELIZABETH and RONALD EPP" Eliz messages Member Information Dear Ron, Ron Archives Glad to hear you and Elizabeth will get some quality time on (18) just returned to Boston, after a few days trying to catch up on la Search Shortcuts project work on Mt. Desert, and am headed to NY and CT today. I've be My Photos off My Attachments my schedule, and my game, by the timely (at 95) loss of my mu weeks back. Scrambles to make final arrangements in Florida, added responsibilities of estate resolution, threw a wrench in my n crazy spring schedule. It will take weeks to recover, on many front won't return to Mt. Desert until July 1, SO I'm afraid I'll miss yo that end. I'm very happy to let you have the use of my loft while you'r the shafts of the Houghton. It's less comfortable at this time of since there is no AC, but you are welcome to use it. I may be in Bo July 23-27th, for some meetings at the Gardner and project duties south. I'll be in Maine the week of the 16th, and from the 28th thro end of the month, SO I'm not sure how much we would overlap in Bosto mean, yy the "last two weeks," " either July 22-31 or July 15-28 (two weeks), we would have some overlap for catching up and sharing resear http://us.f842.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=4302_5616448_81882_2079_1092...6/22/2007 Verizon Yahoo! Mail-eppster2@verizon.net Page 2 of 2 Let me know how you think this could work for you. I can send you a directions, if I can't be there to welcome you. Guest accommo are basic in the loft: a comfortable futon sofa, full bath, kitch LOTS of books to browse. Interesting news about Betsy Anderson. I'm delighted she has opportunity. The Mount has a lot of growing to do before they appreciate the importance of that position--in more than titl that when I see you. Got to run. Best to Elizabeth. Cordially, Patrick Patrick Chassé, ASLA 1 Fitchburg Street, C-211 Somerville, MA 02143-2139 Tel. (617)629-7736 Delete Reply Forward Spam Move Previous Next I Back to Messages Save Message Text Check Mail Compose Search Mail Search the Web Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. I Copyright/IP Policy | Terms of Service Send Feedback Help NOTICE: We collect personal information on this site. To learn more about how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy. http://us.f842.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=4302_5616448_81882_2079_1092..6/22/2007 Verizon Yahoo! Mail -eppster2@verizon.net Page 1 of 2 Verizon Yahoo! Mail Verizon Central Yahoo! Search the Web Search YAHOO! Welcome, eppster2@verizon Mail Home Tutorials Help verizon MAIL [Sign Out, Member Center Mail Addresses Calendar Notepad What's New Mail For Mobile Options Check Mail Compose Search Mail Search the Web Folders [Add Edit] Previous I Next I Back to Messages Inbox (1) Delete Reply Forward Move Draft This message is not flagged. [ Flag Message - Mark as Unread Printable View Sent Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2006 08:39:15 -0700 (PDT) Bulk [Empty] Trash "ELIZABETH and RONALD EPP" Add to [Empty] From: Address Book Add Mobile Alert My Folders [Hide] Subject: Beatrix Farrand & Yale U. Eliz messages To: MossKing@aol.com Member Information Ron messages Dear Patrick, Back now a few weeks from The Mount and am catching up on overdue correspondence while I wait for my wife to do a final edit on the paper that Betsy will publish next year in the Garden Conference Proceedings. The conference exceeded my expectations and despite constant rain it truned out very well. I met Ellie Dwight to whom my paper is indebted and found to my GREAT surprise that she is the daughter of Sargent Collier, who as you know, is the only one to publish nearly fifty years ago a very brief "biography" of Mr. Dorr. Eleanor was about to leave with george for MDI and I hope to see her there this summer, in part because it is my hope that she may have in her possession documentation for some of the claims that her father made in "The Trumph of George B. Dorr." Regarding the Wharton correspondence to Farrand at Yale, all I have is half a dozen pages of notes that I took with a specific goal in mind: their "flower talk." I can send you a copy of this immediately if you like but I did not copy any manuscripts. How is your summer shaping up? Alice Long, Deb Wade, and I are trying to put together a brief celebration on Tuesday August 22nd at Sieur de Monts commemorating the 90th anniverary of the establishment of the Sieur de Monts National Monument within the context of two other related matters: completion of the NPS restoration of the Sieur de Monts Spring area and the centennial of the Antiquities Act which enabled National Monuments to be established by Presidential authority without Congressional oversight. I hope that you have time free to join us and even to participate. We're still in the early stages of developing a very brief program. How is your mother faring? My wife and I make monthly trips from here to Allentown Pennsylvania to check in on her 90 year old father and 95 year old mother. We well recognize the issues involved. By the way, in my Wharton presentation I made a comment to the effect that http://us.f841.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=9155_923475_39511_635_1839_0 6/3/2006 Verizon Yahoo! Mail - eppster2@verizon.net Page 2 of 2 time/form the relationship between Dorr and Farrand was largely unexplored but perhaps more importantly no one had documented the character and extent of her relationship with JDR Jr., not ignoring your work on the Eyne Gardens but 3 rather focused on her landscaping work as Acadia National Park developed. I'd like to talk with you about this at greater length this summer and see what we Kent collectively have in the way of insights and documentation, assuming your interest in this matter. Since David Rockefeller and his parents will be honored Smith jack in this summer during the Friends of Acadia August gala, I wonder if he would have a conversation with us about this matter. What do you think? My efforts in the past to reach him about Mr. Dorr have proven fruitless. Take care and please keep in touch. Ron Rede i new tep Ron Epp 47 Pond View Drive Merrimack, NH 03054 (603) 424-6149 eppster2@verizon.net Delete Reply Forward Move Previous I Next Back to Messages Save Message Text I Full Headers Check Mail Compose Search Mail Search the Web Copyright© 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. I Copyright/IP Policy | Terms of Service I Send Feedback / Help verizon YAHOO! NOTICE: We collect personal information on this site. To learn more about how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy http://us.f841.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=9155_923475_39511_635_1839_0_ 6/3/2006 - 9 September 2004 Patrick Chasse P.O. Box 118 Mt. Desert, ME 04660 Dear Patrick, Thanks for leaving me a phone message Wednesday. My wife and I will be staying at the Atlantic Oakes from the 14t th through the 18th If your schedule would permit us to get together, to see the Garland Farm, and to discuss the enclosed essay from the Sawtelle Archives at the ANP HQ, I would be most pleased. If you could ring us at the Atlantic Oakes when you return-or leave a message when you are available--I'll get back to you. The title of the brief essay gives no clear indication that it will focus on the career of Beatrix Farrand. Please ignore marginal notes and underlines, they are my additions with the exception of the "rewritten" comment and the 6/2/38 date on page one--both added by unknown hands. In preparing my biography of Mr. Dorr I've rather thoroughly reviewed the Farrand secondary literature and find absolutely no mention of this project. Given the manner in which Dorr characterizes the project, it may be that other contemporary scholars were aware of her MDI efforts in the late 1890's but didn't regard them as professionally significant. I'd be interested in your interpretation and any background that you can provide. The Bliss Family Papers do not appear to shed any light on this matter; nor does the correspondence with J.D. Rockefeller Jr. at the Rockefeller Archive Center. If Dorr is correct and there were expenditures associated with this "contract" then I would expect that they might be documented at the University of California. But I find no mention of this project on her client list and it may be the case that she destroyed such records as she did others prior to their relocation to UC. Perhaps I am making too much of this matter. It is not characteristic of Dorr to speak negatively about others, let alone someone with whom he would have such a protracted relationship. Could it be that forty years after the fact he is still miffed that her actions made it "difficult for me to get the land I wanted along the mountain foot"? I look forward to our discussion. Most Cordially, Ronald Epp, Ph.D. Page 1 of 1 Epp, Ronald From: MossKing@aol.com Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 9:27 AM To: Epp, Ronald Subject: Re: George Dorr & Edith Wharton Hi Ron, I survived the holidays, a horrible cold, and a huge mound of Beatrix Farrand end of year paperwork, and am trying to catch up on personal correspondence. I offered to do a piece at the Mount conference on Beatrix and Edith and their respective contributions to American garden design, but Ellie Dwight has her eye on that same sort of topic. Ellie is an old friend and client and I think is also on the Board of the Mount, so I think she will take that torch for this particular symposium. Betsy Anderson is very sweet and smoothed any possible feelings of doubt. I'm very keen to know more about the contents of the Beatrix/Edith correspondence you've been reviewing, but I don't see having the luxury of time to visit the Beineke to study them first hand. If you have made copies of any of the letters, I would be forever indebted if I could obtain copies of the copies for an initial sampling of their correspondence. Speaking of copies, I've made you a copy of the Mt. Desert Nursery catalog, as promised, but have lagged behind in shipping it off to you. It's my new year's resolution to do SO. The new treasurer of the BFS, Howard Monroe, has decided to try and synchronize all membership renewals for the BFS for the beginning of the year and will be sending out a renewal notice late this month. You are not forgotten. The big news for Garland Farm, if I haven't mentioned it before, is that it was listed on the National Register in late October. Local papers neglected to print the Maine Historic Preservation Commission's press release for the honor, so we'll focus on that for good news to spread on MDI in 2006. I may be coming up to Mt. Desert the week of the 23rd. I'm doing competing trips to Florida to tend to an ailing 94 year old mom, so no schedule is secure. It still may be easier to invoke our plan of a rendezvous at the Gardner Museum in the coming months. I attach a scan of the new Landscape Lecture Series program, in case you might be interested in my new directions at the Gardner. Regards from Boston. Happy New Year. Cheers, Patrick Patrick Chassé, ASLA PO Box 118, Mt. Desert, ME 04660 el.(voice/fax) 207-244-0700 + One Fitchburg St., B-451, Somerville, MA 02143 tel. 617-629-7736, fax 617-628-9238 1/12/2006 Page 1 of 4 Epp, Ronald From: Epp, Ronald Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 10:10 AM To: 'MossKing@aol.com' Subject: George Dorr & Edith Wharton Patrick, How are you faring these days? SEE BELOW my correspondence with Betsy Anderson regarding their forthcoming May 2006 conference at The Mount where I have agreed to offer some insights on Mr. Dorr's relationship with Edith Wharton-and unavoidably Beatrix Farrand. I urge you to consider involving yourself in this event. I paid my first visit - offseason-to The Mount in early November when a Berkshire landscape architect named Cornelia Gilder-with whom I've been collaborating on the Dorr Family involvements in Lenox culture from the 1840's to 1890's-showed me the property and the we speculated on the location of the George Dorr Path that Edith Wharton had designed to honor Mr. Dorr. Following my trip several months ago to the Beinecke where I believe alerted you to the large number of Wharton-Jones letters, I've been cramming up on the secondary literature on Wharton's gardens and their relationship to her writing. Care to collaborate on themes that connect Wharton to her two best known Mount Desert Island correspondents? Do let me know your thinking on this matter. I fuilly expect that at this late date your plate is quite full. I plan on coming to MDI in January for the postponed Spirit if Acadia meeting and I'd like to see you if you will be on the island. Best wishes for the holidays. Ron P.S. I know that I once joined the Beatrix Farrand Society but I don't recall getting a renewal notice for more than a year. I'd like to stay involved and supportive of your efforts!! Ronald H. Epp Ph.D. University Library Director & Associate Professor of Philosophy Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH 03106 603-668-2211 x2164 r.epp@snhu.edu From: Betsy Anderson [mailto:banderson@EDITHWHARTON.ORG] Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 9:28 AM To: Epp, Ronald Subject: RE: George Dorr Dear Ron, I'm thrilled to hear that you would like to speak at the conference next May. Based on the most recent version of the conference program, we could schedule your talk for either Saturday, May 20 or Sunday, May 21. If those days are not convenient for you, I could try to work it into Friday as well, for I have a little bit of schedule "wiggle 12/15/2005 Page 1 of 2 Epp, Ronald From: Epp, Ronald Sent: Saturday, November 26, 2005 8:16 AM To: 'MossKing@aol.com' Subject: Garland Farms & Grants Patrick, Here's hoping that you are faring well. I recall you asking me about a funding source for Garland Farms now that it is listed on the National registry. I'd suggest you look at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and at the bottom of the home page (www.imls.gov) look for a grants search box and type in gardening and you will find that they have given awards to various arboretums and other horticultural ventures. Let me know if you'd like to pursue this and perhaps I can give a hand. Been very busy with Mr. Dorr: two days at the Mass Hist Soc, Middlebury College pursuing the relationship with Julia C.R. Dorr (that is, none), and a day visiting the Dorr homestead in Lenox with landscape architect/historian Cornelia Gilder (do you know her?). Again, work that is focused on the early years before the establishment of the Trustees. We've got another Spirit of Acadia meeting scheduled for December 13th at 1:00. Do you think you can make it? Keep in touch. Ron Ronald H. Epp Ph.D. University Library Director & Associate Professor of Philosophy Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH 03106 603-668-2211 x2164 r.epp@snhu.edu From: MossKing@aol.com [mailto:MossKing@aol.com] Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 9:50 AM To: Epp, Ronald Subject: Re: Spirit of Acadia Committee Meeting Dear Ron, Thanks for the Beinecke collections tip. I haven't had a chance to venture far in search of Farrand-connected documents. I hope we can interest some volunteer researchers to ferret out and collect related documents for inclusion in the Garland Farm archives. Great news arrived last Friday: Garland Farm was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 19th. I hope that will help convince local and summer residents of it's significance in the landscape historic scheme of things. Now all we need is more money to pull the place back together and get library, archives, and programs up and running. Any ideas for likely sources?? Don't be discouraged by Gardner archivist's distanced approach. She's only recently been made full time, and the backlog of work and demand for research access far exceeds both her time and the space available. You'll appreciate that more when you 11/26/2005 Page 2 of 2 get your appointment to visit. I have to stand in line for access there too. Please let me know when you are scheduled to visit ISGM. I'd love to see you if I'm in town. Perhaps a lunch break during research would be an efficient time to catch up. I've made you a copy of the Mt. Desert Nursery catalog, but it languishes in my Southwest Harbor studio. I'll mail it off when I return to Mt. Desert Island in late November. Off to London at week's end for two lectures--one on Beatrix Farrand at the Architectural Association. Ciao for now. Patrick Patrick Chassé, ASLA PO Box 118, Mt. Desert, ME 04660 tel.(voice/fax) 207-244-0700 + One Fitchburg St., B-451, Somerville, MA 02143 tel. 617-629-7736, fax 617-628-9238 11/26/2005 Page 1 of 1 Epp, Ronald From: MossKing@aol.com Sent: Monday, July 11, 2005 2:35 PM To: Epp, Ronald Subject: Re: MDI odds and Ends Hi Ron, I very much enjoyed your talk at COA, and left the next morning for Boston--and Italy. Got back late last night and the brain is still back there somewhere--still not quite meshing. Your "eureka" moment with the Old Farm Beatrix Jones and John Gardner entries is terrific. There is little in the archives at the Gardner as Isabella asked that personal correspondence be destroyed after her death--she asked friends to do this too. Most surviving correspondence, I believe, is in other collections like the Mass Historical Society. There is now a full time archivist at the Gardner: Kristin Parker [KParker@isgm.org] Richard is the Assistant Curator of collections and has any books under his protection, but is not a proper "librarian." Please keep me posted on your discoveries. I won't be coming back to MDI for a spell until August 4--to prepare for the Farrand Society annual meeting on the 6th. Things look pretty hectic for me then. How about later in August?? Ciao, Patrick 7/11/2005 Page 1 of 1 Epp, Ronald From: MossKing@aol.com Sent: Saturday, May 28, 2005 10:07 AM To: Epp, Ronald Subject: Re: Spirit of Acadia Calendar Dear Ron, I understand completely about the pain of overextension and not enough lifetimes to do everything one would want. I'm in the same boat, as you know. Please forward said materials when they come up on the task list and I will plug them in to my task list I am scheduled to be "on Island" the weekend of the 13th of August and would be happy to say a very few words about Beatrix Farrand's contributions. Just let me know how you would like this to fit in, perhaps after you and Alice have a better idea of the other pieces of the puzzle. With a hoped for stroke of luck, I may be in Italy for 5 or 6 days when you are due to visit the Island with Mrs. Epp. A friend is renting one of the Medici villas outside Florence and has invited me to come and stay. I think it's a unique opportunity for me, so I'm trying desperately to make it work and not be noticed in Maine as "missing in action." Otherwise I'm supposed to be at the Gardner the week of the 4th, so I'll not be in Maine to greet you. Keep that nose to the grindstone. At least you're not having to deal with planting landscapes in a monsoon. Indoor work is more controllable, contributing to your prodigious output. Regards from the front, Patrick Patrick Chassé, ASLA Please note recent address modifications (in bold type): Boston area mail: 1 Fitchburg St. B-451 Somerville, MA 02143-2123 Phone: (617) 629-7736 Fax: (617) 628-9238 Maine mail: Box 118 Mt. Desert, ME 04660 Studio (voice/fax); (207) 288-2415 Home: (207) 479-5671 5/30/2005 Page 1 of 1 Epp, Ronald From: MossKing@aol.com Sent: Monday, March 28, 2005 5:17 PM To: Epp, Ronald Subject: Re: Mr. Dorr, COA, and Spirit of Acadia Dear Ron, 9 A.M. is fine on the 18th. Coffee and tea still available. As our field will still be too mushy, we can only accommodate about 3 cars besides mine in the driveway (without barricading in the Cape tenants). We've been requesting guests to park along adjacent Bayview Drive and walking down to the Farm. I can send out directions again, once the participant list is firmed up--if you think that would be helpful. I did a fair amount of research in the Rockefeller archives in Tarrytown when I was researching Beatrix Farrand and her role in creation of the garden with the JDR.Jr's. Wonderful complementary documents that dovetailed nicely with Farrand's papers. Terrific resource, as you know. I look forward to seeing the collected Dorr images on the CD. The video project sounds invigorating in terms of giving all your research a publicly accessible form. Regards from mud season on MDI. Cheers, Patrick 3/29/2005 Message Page 1 of 2 Epp, Ronald From: Epp, Ronald Sent: Monday, March 28, 2005 11:16 AM To: 'MossKing@aol.com' Subject: RE: Mr. Dorr, COA, and Spirit of Acadia Dear Patrick, I appreciate your offer to host our Spirit of Acadia Media meeting on the 18th. Shall we say 9 a.m. to allow you enough time for your departure by noon? I'll contact the other Committee members with this time and place which can be altered if 9 a.m. is too early. I've put together a list of proposed Summer-Fall 2005 Spirit of Acadia activities with dates (when known) and sponsoring organization. I'll distrivbute this to the Media Committee well in advance of the meeting so we can be very specific about what additional content is needed and to whom the media information should be targetted. Let me know what comes of your meeting with the COA folk. You should know that I now have a set of nearly fifty images that Brooke has gathered from the Acadia Archives and the Harpers Ferry Historical Collection. I can have her duplicate this CD for you and the COA folks but we need to attach to each image identifying text and also shape these images into some coherent storyline. I'll work on that as I prepare the script for the Dobbs film. Have you ever accessed the Rockefeller Archive Center regarding Beatrix Farrand and her MDI experience? I think I have a listing of all the correspondence between FDR Jr. and Farrand in case you are interested. Let me know. Hold onto the Wild Gardens of Acadia documents until I see you in mid-April, please. Original Message From: MossKing@aol.com [mailto:MossKing@aol.com] Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 10:44 AM To: Epp, Ronald Cc: mdihistory@gwi.net Subject: Re: Mr. Dorr, COA, and Spirit of Acadia Hi Ron, My focus (or foci) are indeed aimed in many compelling directions. I am not on MDI much more than you are these days, making connections and duties difficult and somewhat frustrating. Too many good causes and too little time. As my accountant reminds me every year at tax time, more than 50% of my professional work time is currently pro bono, and that makes further generosity difficult to work in. As I am not "on base" as a local resident a significant amount of the time, my hope was that I could provide some spearhead concept and groundwork to advance the big Spirit of Acadia project this year. Website seemed like a major bang-for-the-buck target for attention, and I was thrilled that COA acquiesced in host and help build the website. I hope to contact or meet with a web person at COA next week, when I am on MDI, and see how they hope to flesh this thing out. I though that I could serve as an interim e-depository for gathered digitized images and text, as a base for materials that can be quickly pasted into the website structure. Your articulate passion for George Dorr, and his comrades, make you the natural for writing or selecting the narrative material. I could meet in the morning of April 18 for a website content strategy session, but am leaving to return to Boston at noon. The 19th is a Gardner day for me in the nine lives I am currently attempting to live, so I will not be able to make the Spirit of Acadia MegaMeeting. I could again offer Garland Farm as a venue for a small meeting (on the 18th), complete with coffee and tea. Great news about the Jeff Dobbs effort. I agree wholeheartedly that much of the information pulled together for various projects could also be featured in the website. In fact, the website would be an appropriate location for cumulative deposition of all the many faces and facts and activities of the Spirit of Acadia--especially if the Park is 3/28/2005 Message Page 2 of 2 disinclined to get us involved in their website. I still have those Wildgardens of Acadia papers you sent. Should I keep them until we meet (on the 18th) or should I send them back to you? Regards from a balmy Boston. Cheers, Patrick 3/28/2005 Message Page 1 of 2 Epp, Ronald From: Epp, Ronald Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 1:49 PM To: "MossKing@aol.com" Subject: RE: Dorr Celebration Meeting Patrick, Good to hear from you. Sorry to hear you had problems opening my emails. I've put a paper copy in the mail for you which should arrive in a few days. They were sent originally as Word attachments. I hope a subcommittee meeting can take place in several weeks as Charlotte is trying to arrange. Whether I can make it is doubtful due to a rescheduled University Retreat at a time not yet determined. Wonderful news about your meeting with the COA folks. Do let me know how that progresses. Good news that you've set up a Dorr "AOL" account. Did you mean to spell his name "Door" rather than "Dorr"? I've spent several days recently at the Massachusetts Historical Society mining the Thomas Wren Ward Papers that were gifted to the MHS by the Dorr Trustees containing hundreds of original documents from his maternal ancestors, most transcribed by GBD; and I hit a magnificent find at the New England Historic and Genealogical Society where Dorr deposited his extensive documentation of his paternal ancestry. This discovery has been enormously helpful in expanding my underrstanding of the early influences on his life and values. To date no one has recognized the extent to which he historically traced his ancestry and documented the culture of earlier generations! Alice Long has also been doing some local legwork for me in tracking down financial information on Mr. Dorr at the B.H. Town Hall. I need to return to you a collection of documents you lent me in December. Will bring that along when I visit next time. If you would like to peruse my file on Beatrix Farrand to see whether I have any documents that you lack, let me know and I'll bring it to MDI when we both can get together. Finally, you will shortly receive some good news from me about the FOA involvement in our efforts. Keep in touch!! Ron Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. Director of Shapiro Library Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH 03106 603-668-2211, ext. 2164 603-645-9685 fax Original Message From: MossKing@aol.com mailto:MossKing@aol.com) Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 6:37 PM To: Epp, Ronald Cc: mdihistory@gwi.net 2/3/2005 Message Page 2 of 2 Subject: Re: Dorr Celebration Meeting Dear Ronald, I too can't make the February 7th meeting, as I will be mired in Boston. The very end of the month doesn't work for me either, as I will be in Virginia to present a lecture at a garden symposium. My only window in Maine this month is February 17 to 22. Could a meeting then work, even for a subset of committee?? Your forwarded minutes of a couple of weeks ago came through as a folder, but the individual documents are undiscipherable by my computer. Could they be sent in Word format, or something that Acrobat Reader can open? I am meeting with COA computer and other program people on February 21 to explore a Dorr website and other possible program connections there. In the meantime, I have set up "GeorgeBDoor@aol.com" under my existing account, in case we need to attach a temporary or prototype website to that account. At least no one else can grab that address. "GeorgeDorr@aol.com" was already taken!! All for now. Cheers, Patrick 2/3/2005 Message Page 1 of 2 Epp, Ronald From: Epp, Ronald Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2004 9:50 AM To: 'MossKing@aol.com' Subject: Mrs. Farrand & G.B. Dorr Patrick, Hope you have been well and I look forward to seeing you next week. Yesterday I was re-reading Beatrix Farrand's 1917 essay in Scribner's Magazine titled "The National Park on Mount Desert Island." Are you familiar with this piece? I noticed some conspicuous similarities in her choice of words and phrases which were very "Dorr-ish." Not to suggest that they collaborated , especially since she concludes the essay with several hundred words of praise for the creation of the park and Mr. Dorr. It certainly made me reflect anew on the nature of their relationship which I'd like to talk with you about on some visit next year. If you haven't seen this piece do let me know by tomorrow and I'll bring along a copy when I head north on Sunday. Most cordially, Ron Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. Director of Shapiro Library Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH 03106 603-668-2211, ext. 2164 603-645-9685 fax Original Message From: MossKing@aol.com [mailto:MossKing@aol.com] Sent: Thursday, October 21, 2004 9:27 AM To: Epp, Ronald Subject: Door Pictures: 1 of 2 Dear Ronald, I finally found my slides of Dorr!!! Attached please find the swimming picture. I have a more detailed version that is too big to transfer over e-mail. If you zoom in, you can see the characteristic moustache and identify Mr. Door. I can send the higher resolution versions of both pictures on a disk, if you like. Under separate e-mail, please find the Dorr/Eliot/Sequoia 1919 picture. With best regards from a beautifully autumnal island. Cordially, 11/11/2004 Beatrix Farrand & Garland Farm Beatrix Farrand A May of Mr. DESERT ISLAND TOEM MAINE WELLS cove Garland TOWN back Harm VETTER POINT - **** OTTER CHILK Mom - 1475 Page 1 of 1 Epp, Ronald From: SaveGarlandFarm@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2003 9:35 AM To: Epp, Ronald Subject: Re: B. Farrand & Mr. Dorr Dear Professor Epp, I was delighted to get your letter and learn of your research on George B. Dorr. Although most of my Mt. Desert Island landscape research has been on Beatrix Farrand, I am very aware of Mr. Dorr's invaluable contributions to Acadia National Park and Mt. Desert Island. I stumbled on the ruins of his former home ("Old Farm"?) many years ago while exploring the woods around Compass Harbor, and subsequently learned more about his nearby nursery. I am very much interested in hearing more of your research, and in helping in any way I can to fill in possible gaps in your Dorr background or chronology here. While working on the initial landscape restoration proposal for "The Mount," Edith Wharton's home in the Berkshires, as it was being readied for National Historic Site status and restoration, I came across several references to Mrs. Whartons correspondence with Mr. Dorr regarding flower varieties for her garden there. I recall that he may have visited "The Mount" to consult on native plants and the gardens. Mrs. Wharton was Beatrix Farrand's aunt, and visited Bar Harbor, where she may have met Mr. Dorr and known his nursery. We have raised 90% of the funds to purchase Garland Farm and are negotiating a purchase and sale agreement for an early December sale. We hope that Garland Farm--and the Beatrix Farrand Society-- will become a center of information and research regarding Mrs. Farrand and Mt. Desert Island designed landscapes. George Dorr is certainly an important part of the Island's landscape legacy and we would welcome the inclusion of information and connections for his life and work. Our 501(c)(3) IRS tax-deductible status has come through in record time, so we are now able to collect gifts toward the Save Garland Farm project directly. Our address is The Beatrix Farrand Society P.O. Box 111 mt. Desert, ME 04660 Thank you so much for your letter. I will put you on our "update" list for progress reports on garland Farm. Cordially, Patrick Chasse, ASLA 10/7/2003 UNIVERSITY OF MAINE, ORONO 37550015377311 HE ABBY ALDRICH ROCKEFELLER GARDEN A Visitor's Guide