National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Resource History and Description of Existing Conditions
linked the farmlands west of the road with the Park. Of less overall impact to the estate was the
embellishment of the property with the expansion of the formal garden and the construction of
a clay tennis court.
A slightly later alteration occurred circa 1910 with the creation of the Great Circle as a
new element in the existing layout of driveways. It is also tempting to speculate into a
connection between the coincidental conversion of the carriage barn to a garage, and the
installation of the Great Circle. If the Great Circle is simply another Neoclassical element, why
was this not installed sooner, and in conjunction with the formality of the architectural
program?
ITALIAN GARDEN FASHION
The formal garden at Hyde Park, sometimes called the "Italian Garden," sits apart from
the architectonic unity of architecture and landscape characterized by Charles Platt in his 1894
publication of Italian Gardens. Stepping down the hillside towards Crum Elbow Creek, the
formal garden at Hyde Park exists as an independent entity, having only a tenuous connection
to the mansion and its native terrace. Rather than a unified composition of house and garden in
the tradition of Italian villas, the formal garden at Hyde Park is fairly unusual for its period,
serving much like a giardino segreto, or secret garden, to be discovered apart from the residence.
This formal garden - begun perhaps as early as the late 1820s by Hosack and refined during the
Langdon and Vanderbilt periods, exemplifies better than any other feature of the property, the
historic layering of landscape fashions and tastes by successive owners.
Said to have entered the field of architecture through the garden gate, Platt was involved
with the 1901 preliminary survey of Hyde Park's formal garden. We are teased by the
appearance of Platt's name on this survey, because this seems to be the extent of his
involvement. The Platt collection at the Avery Library has no materials relating to the Hyde
Park garden; it is not understood why the Vanderbilts discontinued their association with Platt.
Following Platt's brief involvement, the garden at Hyde Park was further developed by at least
two successive designers, James L. Greenleaf and Robert Cridland. Earlier studies of the
landscape also detail the involvement of the firm of Thomas Meehan & Sons, yet it is likely that
Cridland, during his employment by the Meehan company, who served as the principal designer
for the firm's work at Hyde Park.
In fact, the Vanderbilts had ordered nursery stock from the Meehan firm in 1902, the
same year that they retained the services of James L. Greenleaf to redesign the formal garden. 1064
The Meehan firm operated a landscape design division separately from its nursery business. 1065
One of the company's catalogs described the extent of its design services:
This [landscape] department carries a large staff of thoroughly trained experts in various
lines, giving it an equipment unique in its completeness. It offers valuable, thorough and
economical service, both in the construction and the execution of plans for every class of
1064 Cash Book, "Hyde Park October 1901 thru December 1902," Hyde Park Estate Ledgers ROVA
Archives. Entry of April 24, 1902: Thomas Meehan & Sons. Entry details a purchase of $56.00 of nursery
stock, including among many others, Cornelian Cherry, Hydrangea, Red-Twigged Dogwood, Deutzia,
and Spirea.
1065 Rieley, Favretti, and Rainey, "Cultural Landscape Report, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site,
1988," 29.
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