Rose Standish Nichols (1872–1960) was an American

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. Nichols worked for some 70 clients in the United States and abroad. Collaborators included David Adler, Mac Griswold,

Howard Van Doren Shaw Howard Van Doren Shaw American Institute of Architects, AIA (May 7, 1869 – May 7, 1926) was an architect in Chicago, Illinois. Shaw was a leader in the American Craftsman movement, best exemplified in his 1900 remodel of Second Presbyteria ...

, and others. She also wrote articles about gardens for popular magazines such as ''

House Beautiful ''House Beautiful'' is an interior decorating magazine that focuses on decorating and the domestic arts. First published in 1896, it is currently published by the Hearst Corporation, who began publishing it in 1934. It is the oldest still-publi ...

'' and '' House & Garden,'' and published three books about European gardens.Judith Tankard. Introduction to: Rose Standish Nichols. English pleasure gardens. Boston: David R. Godine, 2003.

Early life and education

Nichols was the daughter of Arthur H. Nichols and Elizabeth Fisher Homer Nichols, and a niece of

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculpture, sculptor of the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. Saint-Gaudens was born in Dublin to an Iris ...

. Her siblings included Margaret Homer A. Shurcliff (married to Arthur Shurcliff) and Marian Clarke Nichols. Rose Nichols lived most of her life at 55 Mt. Vernon Street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston. Nichols trained with Charles A. Platt, Inigo Trigs;

Constant-Désiré Despradelle Constant-Désiré Despradelle (May 20, 1862 – February 8, 1912) was a French-born architect and professor of architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who, through his teaching, influenced a generation of Beaux-Arts style architec ...

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

; with Benjamin Watson at the

Bussey Institute The Bussey Institute (1883–1936) was a respected biological institute at Harvard University. It was named for Benjamin Bussey, who, in 1835, endowed the establishment of an undergraduate school of agriculture and horticulture and donated land i ...

, Harvard University; and at the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

. Nichols began studies at MIT in 1899, where she completed only a few courses at MIT as a non-degree, special student. She also travelled in Europe, visiting parks and gardens such as those at

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

, England. Around 1921 Nichols served the

American Society of Landscape Architects The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is a professional association for landscape architects in the United States. The ASLA's mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowship. ...

as Chairman of the Committee on the Garden Club of America.

Career

Garden design

Rose Standish Nichols - Margarita Pumpelly Smyth

Nichols’ first commissioned project was her family’s garden at 'the Mastlands' in 1895, their summer home in Cornish, New Hampshire. Rose added a piazza and laid out a formal garden enclosed with low stone walls. The focal point of the garden was an apple tree that spread over a low pool and curving benches. This project was included in

Guy Lowell Guy Lowell (August 6, 1870 – February 4, 1927), was an American architect and landscape architect. Biography Born in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, Lowell was the son of Mary Walcott (Goodrich) and Edward Jackson Lowell, and a member of B ...

’s book American Gardens (1902). She often designed in accordance with Beaux-Arts style, evident in her tranquil, cohesive and approachable garden designs. Nichols' designs appear in Georgia, Arizona and California, though most of her work appears in Lake Forest, Illinois. Many of her commissioned works appeared in Classic Country Estates of Lake Forest; A Preservation Foundation Guide to National Register Properties, Lake Forest, Illinois. Nichols often collaborated with the architects David Adler, Mac Griswold and Howard Shaw.

Author

Her 1902 book ''English Pleasure Gardens'' was followed by two more volumes, ''Italian Pleasure Gardens'' (1928) and ''Spanish and Portuguese Gardens'' (1924). These books were intended as guidebooks to Europe’s lesser-known gardens. Both ''English Pleasure Gardens'' and ''Spanish and Portuguese Gardens'' were illustrated with drawings by the author; ''Italian Pleasure Gardens'' was illustrated with photographs Nichols took in her travels. Nichols took advantage of her social connections to access and document private gardens all over Europe. She transformed these experiences into a career as a landscape architecture critic, publishing over fifty articles on European landscape design. These articles appeared in house and design magazines such as ''House Beautiful'', ''Horticulture'', and ''House and Garden''.

Activism

In addition to her professional work as a landscape architect, Nichols was a peace activist. She established a discussion group, The League of Small Nations; participants included Mabel Harlakenden Hall Churchill (wife of the American novelist

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

) and

Edith Wilson Edith Wilson ( Bolling, formerly Galt; October 15, 1872 – December 28, 1961) was First Lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921 as the second wife of President Woodrow Wilson. She married the widower Wilson in December 1915, during his firs ...

. The group was a precursor to the

Foreign Policy Association The Foreign Policy Association (FPA, formerly known as the League of Free Nations Association) is an American non-profit foreign policy organization. According to the FPA, the organization aims to spread global awareness and understanding of US f ...

. Nichols also traveled to peace conferences in Europe. In addition, she helped establish the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

. In 1919 Nichols was elected an officer of the Boston Equal Suffrage Association. In 1937, Nichols attended an event organized by the New York Society of the Descendants of Signers of the Independence Declaration. Portraits of Nichols have been made by Taylor Greer and Margarita Smyth. She is buried at

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark. Dedicated in ...

Gardens and parks

Rose Standish Nichols worked on parks and gardens for approximately 70 clients, in the United States and abroad: * Cornish Colony Gallery and Museum,

Cornish, New Hampshire Cornish is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,616 at the 2020 census. Cornish has four covered bridges. Each August, it is home to the Cornish Fair. History The town was granted in 1763 and containe ...

- 1896. * House of Four Winds,

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and t ...

. * Haven Wood, estate of Edward Ryerson, Lake Forest, Illinois. *

Grey Towers Grey Towers was a crenellated mansion with 85 acres of grounds on Hornchurch Road in Hornchurch, England. It was built in 1876 and brought into public use as the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital during the First World War. In the interwar period ...

, house of

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsyl ...

and

Cornelia Bryce Pinchot Cornelia Elizabeth Bryce Pinchot (August 20, 1881 – September 9, 1960), also known as “Leila Pinchot,” was a 20th-century American conservationist, Progressive Party (United States, 1912), Progressive politician, and Women's rights in the ...

Milford, Pennsylvania Milford is a borough that is located in Pike County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat. Its population was 1,103 at the time of the 2020 census. Situated near the upper Delaware River, Milford is part of the New York metropo ...

. * House of Lloyd R. Smith (now Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum),

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. *

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

* Estate of Mr. and Mrs. Dexter and Emilie A. (Hoyt) Cummings, 1460 North Lake Road, Lake Forest, Illinois (1929)

Selected bibliography

* "Individuality in Interior Decoration," ''House Beautiful''. June, 1910. * "How to Make a Small Garden," ''House Beautiful''. August 1912. * "The Small Garden Largely Planned, Designed for P.A. Waller, Kewanee, Illinois," ''House Beautiful''. November, 1922. * "A Hill Top Garden in New Hampshire (Dingleton House)," ''House Beautiful''. March, 1924. * "The Pleasure Gardens of the Great Moguls," ''House Beautiful''. March, 1927.

References

External links

Nichols House Museum
Boston. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Rose Standish American landscape architects Architects from Boston 1872 births 1960 deaths People from Beacon Hill, Boston 20th century in Boston Women's International League for Peace and Freedom people 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers Bussey Institution alumni Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery

Early life and education

Career

Garden design

Author

Activism

Gardens and parks

Selected bibliography

See also

References

Further reading

Works by Nichols

Books

Articles

Works about Nichols

External links