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synopsis

Built in June 1874, United States Hotel, which was razed in 1945, was still considered the largest hotel in the world in 1884. ] The seven-acre irregular pentagon site included a large central courtyard for which FL Olmsted’s advice had been requested in April 1874.

Built in June 1874, United States Hotel, which was razed in 1945, was still considered the largest hotel in the world in 1884. ] The seven-acre irregular pentagon site included a large central courtyard for which FL Olmsted’s advice had been requested in April 1874. He submitted a tracing (see Preliminary Study (00602-1) prepared under his and Weidenmann’s names) to Messrs. Ainsworth, Tompkins & Perry but requested its return if they chose not to proceed. They responded saying that they could not afford to hire him at the time and would only be planting a few trees, so they paid their bill for the site visit and returned the drawing that same month. Olmsted in his letter accompanying the study describes his intentions as one moved through the site from the entrance off Broadway, saying: “looking through the principal door way, you will observe that a vista would be commanded extending from end to end of the property; the foreground would be amply shaded and inviting at all times of the day; in the middle distance would be a quiet sunny lawn,...” Beyond a pergola, “The trees would desirably be the weeping ash, to be trained to form a continuous canopy of verdure at a height of ten or twelve feet, as in old palace gardens. The space under them would be a shaded lounging place and a sort of ante room to the main court.” and further on “A walk through this plantation gives a screened access to the Club House from the Billiard Room.” [FLO to A,T&P_04-21-1874_LOC-FLOP-SF-00602_ims.4,6,7] Olmsted’s vision for the courtyard was quite different from the formal layout that ultimately was constructed as shown in the Saratoga Illustrated pamphlet from 1884.

Olmsted would next be asked to advise on the Congress Spring Hotel park site (Job 12136) in Saratoga Springs. Weidenmann’s correspondence in 1875 (im.79) appears to belong to that job as it references C.C. Dawson with whom Olmsted would subsequently correspond about the execution of their recommendations for the Resort Park.

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