Abstract
This thesis explores seventy-five properties designed by Fletcher Steele (1885 – 1971) in the Rochester area. Steele maintained offices in Boston from 1915 to 1962, and in Rochester from 1962 to 1971. The thesis provides a history of Steele’s work on residential gardens, identifies his design characteristics, inventories the seventy-five gardens, and provides recommendations for preservation. For three of the surveyed gardens, the thesis also provides treatment recommendations for enhancing historic character based on evaluation of the existing landscape with Steele’s original design intent.
Fletcher Steele’s works are representative examples of a period of landscape architecture that was materially and stylistically experimental. Schooled in the traditional Beaux Arts fashion at Harvard University and trained by Warren H. Manning in the picturesque style, Steele’s own innovative design approach would eventually bridge the gap between classical design principles and modernist functionalism. Throughout his professional career, Steele created more than five hundred landscape designs primarily for single-family residential properties.
This thesis is also available at SUNY ESF’s Moon Library – Thesis Call Number S43912