Last updated: June 6, 2024
Place
Hazel Fern Farm
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
Location:
Portland, OR
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Suburban Community
MANAGED BY:
In 1909, the Ladd Estate Company sold its 462-acre Hazel Fern Farm to the Laurelhurst Company for approximately two million dollars, roughly sixty-five million dollars today. The Laurelhurst Company had plans to create a residential development on the land, using 444 of the acres to place 1,880 lots on. Olmsted Brothers were hired by the company to design the neighborhood.
Unique from the onset, Laurelhurst had already set aside land for a park, school, and women’s home. The neighborhood took shape around the natural topography of the land. While many subdivisions use the easiest road methods, a grid format, Olmsted Brothers utilized a curving, tree-lined plan following the natural contours of the site.
Green space was preserved for the common enjoyment of the community, and special care was given to the views a resident would get while walking through Laurelhurst’s streets. The idea that harmonious living could be achieved through landscape design can still be seen in Laurelhurst’s entrance arches, the tree-lined blocks and circular street patterns.
Source: "A Short History of Laurelhurst," Laurelhurst
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Unique from the onset, Laurelhurst had already set aside land for a park, school, and women’s home. The neighborhood took shape around the natural topography of the land. While many subdivisions use the easiest road methods, a grid format, Olmsted Brothers utilized a curving, tree-lined plan following the natural contours of the site.
Green space was preserved for the common enjoyment of the community, and special care was given to the views a resident would get while walking through Laurelhurst’s streets. The idea that harmonious living could be achieved through landscape design can still be seen in Laurelhurst’s entrance arches, the tree-lined blocks and circular street patterns.
Source: "A Short History of Laurelhurst," Laurelhurst
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr