Lawnfield: Cultural Landscape Report, James A. Garfield National Historic Site, National Park Service

NPS Midwest Regional Office; The Westerly Group, Inc.

As one component of a larger project, which includes restoration/development of the main residence at Lawnfield, adaptive reuse of the carriage house, and a number of other elements, the team of landscape architects and historical landscape architects were asked by the Denver Service Center of the National Park Service to prepare a Cultural Landscape Report for the site. Van Dijk, Johnson and Partners are the chief architects responsible for the primary restoration efforts for the buildings at Lawnfield. Within the scope of the CLR, the investigative team was asked to identify, evaluate and determine appropriate management options for the cultural landscape, including considerations for such elements within the site as the historic scene, historic designed and vernacular landscapes. The team collected, presented and evaluated documentary and field survey findings within the context of the Cultural Landscape Report format. During the course of this project, guidelines for the management of cultural landscapes underwent extensive revision and expansion. The investigative team made several revisions to this document in an attempt to conform with the most recent available information. However, it must be remembered that these guidelines are still in a state of flux and thus, some aspects of this report may be superceded by later changes. The authors owe much to those who have preceded them. Photographs, drawings and data from two previous works, compiled by the National Park Service have been incorporated: The Historic Resource Study prepared by Ronald W. Johnson, in September of 1984 for the Denver Service Center, branch of cultural resources Northeast Team, and the report prepared by Paul Newman of the Denver Service Center in September of 1989, entitled: Lawnfield Historic Structure Report- James A. Garfield National Historic Site. In addition, the research team has completed extensive additional work in the Lucretia R. Garfield collection and those of other family members at the Library of Congress, Manuscripts Collection and in collections available through the Western Reserve Historical Society, the Lake County Historical Society and other sources. Since the research team anticipates that this report will often be read by persons who have not had the benefit of access to the other two documents, a biographical sketch of James A. Garfield has been included (SECTION II), as well as a brief chronology (SECTION V). In addition to the work of Messrs. Johnson and Newman, we are also grateful to Carl Engel of the Lake County Historical Society and to the staff of the Western Reserve Historical Society for their assistance in helping us delve through the extensive archival material in their collections.

Lawnfield: Cultural Landscape Report, James A. Garfield National Historic Site, National Park Service

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