Shakespeare Garden | |
Location | Northwestern University campus, Evanston, Illinois |
---|---|
Coordinates | 42°3′24″N87°40′34″W / 42.05667°N 87.67611°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Architect | Jensen, Jens; Burnham Bros. |
NRHP reference No. | 88002234 [1] |
Added to NRHP | November 16, 1988 |
The Shakespeare Garden in Evanston, Illinois, United States, is a Shakespeare garden on the campus of Northwestern University. Planned in 1915 and built from 1916 to 1929, the garden was the first Shakespeare Garden in the United States. The garden was designed by landscape architect Jens Jensen and was constructed by the Garden Club of Evanston, which still maintains the area. In 1988, the garden was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. [1]
The Shakespeare Garden is located on the Northwestern University campus at the corner of Sheridan Road and Garrett Place, near the Howes Chapel and Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary. [2] The garden is 70 feet (21 m) wide by 120 feet (37 m) long and is divided into eight flower beds. The four outer beds are designed informally, while the four inner beds are knot gardens; the outer and inner beds are separated by boxwood plants. The borders of the garden are lined with hawthorn trees, many of which were imported from France when the garden was first planted. [3] The more than fifty varieties of plants in the garden were either mentioned in Shakespeare's works, common in the Tudor period in England, or are cultivars of plants in the other two categories. [3] The garden also includes a fountain with a plaque honoring Shakespeare and a stone memorial designed by Hubert Burnham, the son of architect Daniel Burnham. [4]
In 1915, the Drama League of America recommended the construction of Shakespeare gardens to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the playwright's death. Noted Chicago landscape architect and Drama League member Jens Jensen designed such a garden, and fellow member Alice Houston suggested that the Garden Club of Evanston adopt the design. Northwestern University agreed to host the garden on its campus in late 1915, and construction and planting began the following spring. To raise funds for the garden, the Garden Club hosted its first garden fair in May 1916; the fair became an annual event and is still held to this day. Planting in the garden was finished in 1920, and in the following decade the Garden Club added the garden's other features. The completed garden was the first Shakespeare garden in the United States. [5] In 1930, the garden was officially given to Northwestern; however, it is still maintained by the Garden Club. [4] The garden was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 16, 1988. [1] A sundial and brick edging on the inner flower beds were added to the garden in 1990. [3] The garden celebrated its centennial birthday in 2015. [6]
Garfield Park is a 184-acre (0.74 km2) urban park located in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on Chicago's West Side. It was designed as a pleasure ground by William LeBaron Jenney in the 1870s and is the oldest of the three original parks developed by the West Side parks commission on the Chicago park and boulevard plan. It is home to the Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the largest plant conservatories in the United States. It is also the park furthest west in the Chicago park and boulevard system.
Fair Lane was the estate of Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford and his wife, Clara Ford, in Dearborn, Michigan, in the United States. It was named after an area in Cork in Ireland where Ford's adoptive grandfather, Patrick Ahern, was born. The 1,300-acre (530 ha) estate along the River Rouge included a large limestone house, an electrical power plant on the dammed river, a greenhouse, a boathouse, riding stables, a children's playhouse, a treehouse, and extensive landmark gardens designed by Chicago landscape architect Jens Jensen.
Jens Jensen was a Danish-American landscape architect.
James Gamble Rogers was an American architect. A proponent of what came to be known as Collegiate Gothic architecture, he is best known for his academic commissions at Yale University, Columbia University, Northwestern University, and elsewhere.
Roycemore School is an independent, nonsectarian, co-educational college preparatory school located in Evanston, Illinois serving students in pre-kindergarten through Grade 12. The school's current enrollment is approximately 240 students as of 2021. The school's old building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Alfred Caldwell was an American architect best known for his landscape architecture in and around Chicago, Illinois.
Howard Van Doren Shaw AIA was an architect in Chicago, Illinois. Shaw was a leader in the American Craftsman movement, best exemplified in his 1900 remodel of Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago. He designed Marktown, Clayton Mark's planned worker community in Northwest Indiana.
Myron Hubbard Hunt was an American architect whose numerous projects include many noted landmarks in Southern California and Evanston, Illinois. Hunt was elected a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects in 1908.
Columbus Park is a 135-acre (55 ha) park located on the far West Side of Chicago, Illinois in the Austin neighborhood. It is considered the finest work by landscape architect Jens Jensen and was consequently named a National Historic Landmark in 2003.
The Charles Gates Dawes House is a historic house museum at 225 Greenwood Street in Evanston, Illinois. Built in 1894, this Chateauesque lakefront mansion was from 1909 until his death the home of Charles Gates Dawes (1865–1951) and his family. Dawes earned the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize for his plan to alleviate the crushing burden of war reparations Germany was required to pay after World War I. Dawes served as U.S. Vice President under Calvin Coolidge, a general during World War I, and as United States Ambassador to Great Britain. Dawes was a descendant of William Dawes, who along with Paul Revere, rode to alarm the colonists that the British regulars were coming on the night before the Revolutionary War began. The house, a National Historic Landmark, is now owned by the Evanston History Center, which offers tours.
Humboldt Park is a 207-acre (84 ha) park located at 1400 North Sacramento Avenue on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It opened in 1877, and is one of the largest parks on the West Side. The park's designers include William Le Baron Jenney, and Jens Jensen.
Charles Herrick Hammond (1882–1969), commonly known as C. Herrick Hammond, was a Chicago architect.
The Jens Jensen Summer House and Studio at 930-950 Dean Ave. in Highland Park, Illinois is associated with landscape architect Jens Jensen. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
The Charles N. Ramsey and Harry E. Weese House is a historic residence in Kenilworth, Illinois. Considered an excellent local example of an American Foursquare design, it is also the childhood home of architect Harry M. Weese.
The Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital is a second-generation Veterans Health Administration hospital in Hines, Illinois, United States. It currently encompasses 174 acres (70 ha) on its campus and leases an additional 60 acres (24 ha) to the Loyola University Medical Center.
The old Roycemore School building is a Northwestern University building that is included on the National Register of Historic Places. The structure had formerly housed the Roycemore School from its opening until 2012.
The Dwight Perkins House is a historic house located at 2319 Lincoln Street in Evanston, Illinois. The house was built in 1904 for architect Dwight H. Perkins and children's author and illustrator Lucy Fitch Perkins. Perkins designed his house in a style heavily influenced by the Prairie School and the Arts and Crafts Movement. The house was built from wood and stucco, materials characteristic of both styles which let the house blend into the surrounding nature. Its exterior decorative features include bracketed eaves, casement windows, trellises, and a half-timbered gable. Landscape architect Jens Jensen, a friend of the Perkinses, designed the house's surroundings, which include a reflecting pool. The inside of the house incorporates horizontal bands of windows which let in sunlight, unpainted wood features, and an open floor plan.
The Harley Clarke Mansion consists of a French Eclectic-style house and coach house located at 2603 Sheridan Road in Evanston, Illinois, adjacent to the historic Grosse Pointe Light and Lighthouse Beach on Lake Michigan. Cited as a contributing structure for the Northeast Evanston Historic District that Evanston established with the National Park Service in 1999, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Ernest Loeb House is a historic house at 1425 Waverly Road in Highland Park, Illinois. The house was built in 1930 for Ernest Loeb. Architect Arthur Heun, who also designed a nearby home for Loeb's brother Allan, designed the house in the Georgian Revival style. The house's design includes a brick exterior, a fanlight above the front door, a pediment at the roofline above the entrance, and a hip roof. Landscape architect Jens Jensen designed the house's grounds, which feature characteristic elements of Jensen's work such as curved paths and native plants.
The Building at 813–815 Forest Avenue is a historic apartment building in Evanston, Illinois. The three-story brick building was built in 1929. The building has an L-shaped layout with a half courtyard, a relatively common pattern among Evanston's apartments. Architect Jens J. Jensen designed the building in the Tudor Revival style, a popular choice for the time. The building's design includes Tudor arched entrances, lancet windows, projecting bays, and a crenellated tower.