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The Gardens at Longue Vue
The eight acres of beauty that comprise Longue Vue’s gardens
are an idyllic and tranquil oasis in the lively pulse that is urban
New Orleans. Though situated less than 20 minutes from New Orleans’
Central Business District and French Quarter, the gardens of Longue
Vue are a world apart from the hot sidewalk bustle of Bourbon Street.
The cool shady lushness of the Johnson or Goldfish Pond Garden and the
serene natural beauty of the Wild Garden are just two of the nine garden
“rooms” to explore at Longue Vue.
In a city rich with beautiful gardens, Longue Vue is an unrivalled jewel.
Created beginning in 1934 by Ellen Biddle Shipman, known as “the
dean of American women landscape architects”, Longue Vue has an
important place in the history of garden design in this country. At
the time of Longue Vue’s creation a bold new garden movement was
in effect. The Country Place Era, as it is termed by scholars of landscape
history, was a period during which a unique set of conditions combined
to create some of the most breathtaking garden estates in America. Wealthy
American industrialists were visiting Europe and viewing the stunning
gardens of that continent: formal English knot gardens, lovely Italian
villas, palatial estates where the gardens were as much a part of the
experience as was the architecture. These captains of industry returned
to their own country looking not only for respite from their rapidly
urbanizing city centers but also to recreate this European mode of inhabiting
the world outside-of-doors.
Ellen Biddle Shipman was a champion designer of gardens of this style
with a keen understanding of how to successfully create the experience
of a “garden room” and the eye of a true artist. The intimacy,
ease and romance of her garden designs stood out amongst the forced-grandiosity
and self-conscious emulation of European gardens that many of her contemporaries
suffered. Though her client list included such prominent names as Rockefeller,
duPont and Ford, Mrs. Shipman had a philosophy regarding gardening that
was very much in keeping with the democratic leanings of the Sterns,
who believed in using their resources to help individuals learn to empower
themselves. Mrs. Shipman was quoted as having said that: “Gardening
opens a wider door than any other of the arts-all mankind can walk through,
rich or poor, high or low, talented and untalented. It has no distinctions,
all are welcome.”
William and Geoffrey Platt, sons of Charles Platt, the New Hampshire
architect who was Mrs. Shipman’s mentor and associate, designed
the house at Longue Vue, which is a variant of the Classical Revival
style. Longue Vue, originally built in 1924, was rebuilt by the Platt
brothers in 1939 because after five years of working with Mrs. Shipman
the Sterns felt that the house no longer related to the beautiful gardens
that she had created. The Platts were also instrumental in augmenting
the Shipman designs after her death in 1950. The design work of the
Platt’s was largely inspired by a trip taken with Mrs. Stern to
Spain and Portugal in the early 1960’s. By this time Mrs. Stern
had conceived of the idea of opening Longue Vue to the public and many
of the Platt’s changes reflect this foresight and Mrs. Stern’s
generous desire to share her legacy with the many generations to come.
In 2006, Longue Vue was designated a Preservation Project of the Garden Conservancy. In fulfilling its mission to preserve exceptional American gardens for the public’s education and enjoyment, the Garden Conservancy's Preservation Projects Department provides the leadership, guidance and tools to assist garden owners, public agencies and private organizations in assessing the feasibility of preserving a garden, opening its gates to the public and sustaining the garden as a valued cultural resource in the community, region, and nation.
Discovery Garden
This 1/2-acre interactive garden is a place where plants, children
of all ages, and imaginations grow. Enjoy a view of the garden from
the giant, living sundial. Delight in the mysterious bamboo tunnel,
working vegetable garden, wind through
the whimsical herb maze, and design
a Butterfly Garden.
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