Frederick Law Olmsted and His Work 
A NEARER VIEW OF THE HOUSE 
singular appreciation of the distinctiveness, one 
might say the uniqueness of each particular problem. 
If Mr. Olmsted’s designs are compared one with 
another, no two will be found to be in any sense 
similar. 
The means employed are as definite as the pur¬ 
poses, and they are always adequate. They are 
sometimes original, oftentimes ingenious, always 
practical. They recognize the conditions. They 
achieve the purposes. They serve at once utility 
and beauty. In fact, they illustrate that the reasoned 
adaptation of a design to the conditions is the natural 
and surest foundation of beauty. While first regard 
is given to the large elements of a design, the details 
are never neglected. 
The study of Mr. Olmsted’s life and professional 
methods cannot fail to be fruitful to the designer of 
to-day, no matter what his medium of expression 
may be. He will find that no fad or fashion ever 
possessed this well-balanced artist. He was broad 
and catholic in his taste and unbiased in his outlook. 
His work never became dull to him, never mechan¬ 
ical. It was characterized by versatility, public 
spirit, common sense, imagination and genius— 
genius that showed itself plainly in his extraordinary 
understanding and extraordinary application. It 
is not surprising, therefore, that in the profession of 
landscape architecture, to which the best half of his 
life was patiently given, that he was an unrivalled 
master, indisputably the foremost landscape designer 
not only of his own time, but of all time. He, more 
than any other man, created the one great art that 
this country has developed, an art peculiarly suited 
to use American conditions in a high service of the 
American people. At no other time and in no other 
country could he have served so well both the cause 
of his art and the cause of humanity; nor could any 
of his fellow-countrymen have approached him in 
his special qualifications for his task—qualifications, 
whole foundations and development I have en¬ 
deavoured to set forth. We may now turn our 
attention to his executed work, first considering 
the famous mountain park at Montreal. 
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