Last updated: June 8, 2024
Place
Munsey Subdivision
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
After the death of multi-million-dollar author and publisher Frank Munsey in 1925, his estate and land were gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on the condition that it would be divided into lots and auctioned off. President of the Museum of Art, Robert de Forest, worried about the planning of the neighborhood, and called on Olmsted Brothers in 1927 to improve the planning.
Focusing on the area’s natural conditions and need of a community-centric design, Olmsted Brothers partner Edward Whiting created an efficient, aesthetically pleasing plan. To celebrate the connection to the Museum, tree-lined streets were named for artists, curving around the natural topography, designed with minimal access to the highway to avoid cut-through traffic.
Within the Munsey Subdivision, five parks, a school, and three businesses were incorporated. By 1930, 162 homes were completed in the Colonial Revival style and work on a shopping center was underway. An attempt to put an eighteen-hole golf course failed and the land was returned for residential development.
Source: "Munsey Park" The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Focusing on the area’s natural conditions and need of a community-centric design, Olmsted Brothers partner Edward Whiting created an efficient, aesthetically pleasing plan. To celebrate the connection to the Museum, tree-lined streets were named for artists, curving around the natural topography, designed with minimal access to the highway to avoid cut-through traffic.
Within the Munsey Subdivision, five parks, a school, and three businesses were incorporated. By 1930, 162 homes were completed in the Colonial Revival style and work on a shopping center was underway. An attempt to put an eighteen-hole golf course failed and the land was returned for residential development.
Source: "Munsey Park" The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr