Frederick Law Olmsted an d H is Work 
PLAN OF TFIE TERRACES AND WESTERN STAIRWAY 
smaller plot of ground, but 
with the extensions to 
the buildings an additional 
area had been purchased, 
so that when Mr. Olmsted 
was appointed landscape 
architect there were some 
50 acres to be treated. Be¬ 
fore his appointment there 
had been no fixed policy 
with regard to the improve¬ 
ment of the grounds, and 
even the gardening, the mere 
planting and care of trees 
and plants, had had little in¬ 
telligent attention. For ex¬ 
ample, in 1874 there was but 
one tree (the “Washington 
Elm’’) upon the grounds ap¬ 
proaching a condition of tree 
majesty, and not a dozen 
trees of ten years healthy and 
unmutilated growth. Contrast the history of the 
building and the grounds.f The design of the 
building by a trained and experienced architect was 
begun in 1793, and was always in expert hands, 
yet it was four score years later before a similar 
consideration was given to the surroundings of the 
building. Here surely we find a notable illustra¬ 
tion of Lord Bacon’s quaint phrase “that when 
Ages grow to Civility and Elegancie, Men come to 
Build Stately, sooner than to Garden Finely.” 
1 he latitude of Washington is 39 0 . This, as we 
shall see later, was an important factor both in the 
plan and the planting. In summer the city was 
apt to be very hot and dry. Its principal use, how¬ 
ever, is in the winter, for only occasionally does 
Congress remain in session during the hot summer 
■fFor complete and well illustrated account of the Capitol see Glenn Brown’s 
excellent work entitled ‘‘ History of the United States Capitol.” 2 vols. 
months, and when Congress is not in session the 
city is comparatively deserted. The social con¬ 
ditions affecting the Capitol grounds are unique, 
for these grounds form an important part of the 
governmental centre of a great and rich nation. It 
is natural, therefore, to expect that pride will be 
taken in their appearance. But public opinion 
thirty years ago was in no sense favorable to formal 
gardening. Although public taste permitted topi¬ 
ary work and artificial features to be inconsistently 
mixed with natural gardening schemes, it condemn¬ 
ed formal gardening per se and all the grander 
and more essential aims of classic landscape de¬ 
sign. The truth is there was then even less gen¬ 
eral familiarity with the aims of design out-of-doors 
than there is to-day. Ample funds were available 
for the improvement of the grounds in an appro¬ 
priate manner. The building had already cost 
$16,000,000. It was desired that the 
grounds and the surroundings of the 
building should be adequate in extent 
and suitable in treatment. 
In brief, then, these were the condi¬ 
tions—physical, social and financial—that 
Mr. Olmsted as landscape architect had 
to accept as the basis for his work. It 
is now proper to inquire what aims he 
adopted as the controlling motives for 
his design. They were four: (1) To 
serve conveniently the business of Con¬ 
gress and other Government Departments. 
(2) To support and present to advan¬ 
tage the Capitol building itself as a great 
national monument, the greatest in fact 
that the nation possesses. (3) To pre¬ 
serve and enhance the vistas and views 
SHRUBBERY AT THE BASE OF THE TERRACES 
