Justin Smith Morrill Homestead
Virtual Tour
Jay Tisbert
Independent Study
Vermont Technical College
Mary Waldo
April 28, 2006
Introduction
Justin Smith Morrill was born in Strafford, VT on April 14, 1810 (1).
Throughout his life he developed a love of plants and a passion for
landscapes. After living Maine for a few years, he returned to Strafford
and in 1848 he began to build this house and design the landscape for this
property (2). He was engaged in agriculture and horticulture at this site
from 1848-1855 and experimented with different trees, shrubs and
herbaceous perennials. Additionally, he experimented with the different
placement of plants and garden designs. In 1851 he married Ruth Swan
and moved into the house.
Justin Smith Morrill had a keen interest in plants and landscapes.
This can be seen from both his studies on design theories of landscaping as
well as from letters written to his wife when traveling. He studied methods
and theories of prominent horticulturists and agriculturists of his time. In a
letter written to his wife while visiting Kew he wrote “… their splendid
glass conservatories, lawns, trees, beds of flowers, is altogether the finest
place I have seen. The…borders and beds of rare flowers and …trees are
wonderful in extent and beauty.” (3).
Morrill’s objective for the property was to create a gentleman’s villa
or small estate. In landscape designs during early the 1800’s many of the
philosophies were based on English designers and European estate styled
plantings. In such designs, each section of the property had a purpose and a
function. Areas were carefully planned out, and designs of the time
incorporated divisions throughout the property based on the needs of the
families. For example, on the Morrill estate, areas with high use, like the
Kitchen Garden, were closer to the house, and areas that were not used
every day, such as the Orchard, were located further away. Paths were
designed based on functionality. For example, some paths were made
wider to accommodate carts and barrows while narrower paths were made
for walking. Morrill’s fascination with horticulture and agriculture led him
to design, develop, and improve his homestead for over 30 years. (3).
The purpose of this project was to try to recreate Morrill’s gardens
and landscape through an examination of maps and historical documents.
The goal was to create a virtual tour that leads viewers across the
Ornamental Lawn, and through the Cookie Cutter Gardens, the Fleur de
Lis (the rose garden), and the Kitchen Garden near the greenhouse. By
virtually walking the paths you will step back in time and see a recreation
of Morrill’s landscape.
Ornamental Lawn Area
As you enter the property through the gate, you are in the
Ornamental Lawn Area. The area is made up of trees, shrubs, and flower
beds dispersed throughout a gently sloping lawn. The purpose of this
section was to provide aesthetic quality and beauty. There are individual
specimen plants intermingled with flowerbeds and groupings of trees and
shrubs. (3).
There is evidence to support that many factors were considered when
Morrill chose his plant materials. This includes recommendations from
landscape designer A. J. Downing, as well as personal notations. Morrill
chose to follow the expression that was defined by Downing as Beautiful,
rather than Picturesque, when selecting trees. Although Morrill did use the
Beautiful classification for most of the plantings he did use some plants
that were in the Picturesque classification. The Beautiful classification
included plants that had graceful and elegant character. This can be seen in
such trees as oak, maple, elm, and ash as they all have a round form. For
contrast in the landscape, Morrill used some weeping and oblong forms
which were from the Picturesque classification.
Morrill’s fascination for plants led him to experiment with a variety
of cultivars and species. He took into consideration general growing
conditions, as well as hardiness of plants, and he often experimented with
plants known to be marginally hardy in Vermont. He liked to use plants
that had recently been introduced to the trade and were at the time
considered rare. He also looked at morphological characteristics such as
height, bloom time, and color when selecting trees and shrubs. Many of the
shrubs he used had pink, white, or purple flowers. (3).
The virtual tour shows the form and design that Morrill used for the
Ornamental Lawn Area. The trees and shrubs pictured are based on
original photos and other historical data.
Cookie Cutter Gardens
Almost all of the Cookie Cutter Gardens are located along the paths
in the Ornamental Lawn. These gardens have different arabesque designs
(3). An arabesque is an elaborate design that uses repeating geometric
shapes (4). The shapes used for these gardens were based on Victorian
garden styles. They integrate the architecture of the Gothic styled house
with the design of the landscape (3).
The Cookie Cutter gardens are more formal when compared to the
rest of the Ornamental Lawn Area, and they consist of trees, shrubs, and
garden flowers. The geometric-shaped beds are planted in circles and lines
with annuals and perennials. The arabesque gardens are planted in
irregular groupings and have a combination of trees, shrubs, perennials,
and annuals (3).
Shrubs and perennials are also planted together to create both borders
and dense beds. Occasionally, annuals are used to fill open space in the
flowerbeds. They are mainly used in different patterns and color schemes
in more formally designed beds. Annuals improve and brighten the
gardens, and they are replanted throughout the season. Replacing the
annuals allows the gardens to maintain their vibrancy (3).
The plantings shown in the virtual tour are based on lists of plants
from Morrill’s notations, and historic pictures and maps of the time.
The Fleur-de-Lis
As you walk around the house, to the right you will see the Fleur-deLis garden. This is the most formal garden on the property and is
comprised mostly of roses inter-planted with annuals and bulbs. There is
also a plinth, which is a block or slab on which a pedestal, column, or
statue is placed, in the center of the garden. The plinth is the focal point of
the garden.
The Fleur-de-Lis is a parterre, a garden in which the beds and paths
are laid out on flat ground and form a pattern. The Fleur-de-lis is the only
parterre on Morrill’s estate. In many situations, the pattern of the garden is
as important as the plants within the garden. Parterres are usually placed
next to multilevel buildings so that the pattern can be appreciated when
people are looking down on the garden. Parterres are of French origin, and
they reached their peak usage in the landscape during the 17th Century
when European gardens were influenced by the French garden (5).
In this garden the flowers were mostly shades of whites, pinks, blues,
and purples. Again, we see that Morrill liked to experiment with different
varieties of plants, as the historical list of roses and other plant materials
for this garden is quite extensive. Many of the plants that Morrill grew
were not fully hardy to the area. This indicates that he experimented with
new varieties and hybrids, and that the garden was constantly changing.
The plantings shown in the virtual tour highlight Morrill’s list of oldtime rose varieties. These varieties were very fragrant and were the color
that Morrill desired.
Greenhouse and Kitchen Garden Area
Across the road from kitchen on a large plateau is the Greenhouse
and Kitchen Garden Area. The design of the Kitchen Garden follows
patterns that were introduced well over a century ago. The garden is
surrounded by hedges on three sides with the greenhouse being the fourth
side. It is enclosed and separated because of its function. (3).
The main function of this area would have been the production of
food crops and ornamentals. It was used in conjunction with other areas of
the property where larger amounts of space were needed to produce
abundant harvests. Areas such as the Orchards (e.g. apples) and the
‘coarse’ vegetable gardens (e.g. potatoes) are examples of places where
more land was required. Crops grown in the Kitchen Garden included
mixed vegetables, culinary herbs, some small fruits, and there were also
ornamental plantings.
This area also allowed for the production of nursery stock for later
use in the landscape or orchard. Flowers grown in this garden were used as
stock plants for other garden areas, hanging baskets, and cut flowers for
the house. Although the main purpose of the Kitchen Garden was
production, it also included ornamental characteristics such as trellises and
fountains. (3).
The area is rectangular with small paths creating planting areas. The
more heavily traveled area is a wider path around the perimeter. The
greenhouse was used to produce seedlings, tend to transplants, propagate
cuttings, and force tropical plants into flower (3). Morrill also used the
greenhouse to grow wine grapes (6).
The virtual tour for this garden area is based on historical sketches,
plant lists, and interviews with Historical Society staff members.
Conclusion
Historical documents demonstrate that Justin Smith Morrill had a
fascination with how plants and landscapes interact. He was able to further
his love of gardening starting in 1848 at this Strafford Estate. The property
was always evolving and was constantly changing. Morrill experimented
with many different types of plants and developed a particular fondness for
fragrant roses. He designed the property with both function and aesthetic
ornamental quality in mind. Morrill’s designs and plantings on the
property fulfilled his quest to have a small estate.
The four components illustrated in this virtual walkthrough show
Morrill’s intended designs and plantings. You can see the assorted
varieties of plants and the intricate designs that he used. The Ornamental
Lawn Area, the Fleur-de-Lis, and the Cookie Cutter Gardens purpose were
designed mainly to be ornamental, and they added artistic quality to the
landscape. On the other hand, the Kitchen Garden Area had a broader role
for the homestead. The area allowed for the production of food crops used
on a daily basis.
I hope that you have enjoyed stepping back in time while taking the
virtual tour of the Justin Smith Morrill Homestead. The tour was created to
represent and preserve the history of Morrill’s designs and gardens.
Thank you for viewing the tour and I hope that you enjoy the rest of
your time at the Morrill Homestead.
Literature Cited
(1)
(2)
Baker, C.B. “Morrill, Justin Smith.” The World Book Encyclopedia.
1974.
Parker, W.B. “The Life and Public Service of Justin Smith Morrill.”
Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company: 1924.
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
Anderson, J.L. and T.R. R. deGiacomo. “The Ornamental Landscape: A
Study with Site Plans for the Restoration of the Justin Smith Morrill
Historic Site.” Barnard, Vermont: Primavera Landscaping. 1990.
Arabesque. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabesque. This page was last
modified 18:27, 5 February 2006.
Parterres. This page was last updated on November 25, 1999
http://www.harborside.com/~rayj/parterre.htm
Rutz, Lorenz. Personal interview. 11 Sept. 2005.