Cultural Landscape Report for Weir Farm NHS, Volume II - Analysis and Treatment

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation; Foulds, H Eliot

This report is the second volume of the "Cultural Landscape Report for Weir Farm National Historic Site." Building on the site history and analysis of existing conditions completed earlier, this report, produced within a three-ring binder, identifies and makes recommendations for the characteristics and features of the property which convey its historic character. This is the important second step in the three-part approach of research, planning and stewardship which comprises effective cultural resource management. While elements of the landscape were consciously designed, as a whole, Weir Farm as it exists today is more an embodiment of Connecticut's vanishing rural traditions. This being the case, the landscape represents the physical manifestation of complex and subtle relationships between the land and its occupants. These relationships have their origin prior to Weir's acquisition of the property in 1882 and extend beyond his 1919 death. Because of this, it has been important that the National Park Service, as the property's most recent stewards, consider its care and treatment of the property from both within and beyond the context of its association with the painter. The broad history of the property was recognized in the development of the new park's General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, completed in 1995. The preparation of this second volume of the cultural landscape report has kept the goals of the GMP at the forefront as the park's primary planning document. The GMP is intended to provide the philosophical framework for management decisions over the next 15 to 20 years. Accomplishing all of the tasks outlined in the following landscape treatment plan could easily take that long. This report offers insights into the physical implications of our management approach and provides the details of the treatment tasks needed to adequately develop budgets and plans for accomplishing management goals. This report represents a long-term collaboration between the park and the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation. As professionals in the field of cultural landscape preservation, staff from the Olmsted Center worked closely with park staff to document conditions, resolve outstanding research questions, and identify issues and priorities. This working relationship was also instrumental in the development of specific and detailed tasks aimed at the treatment of the landscape. It is fully understood that details related to these tasks may change due to the emergence of new information or priorities. To these ends, this report is designed to accommodate change and will be updated as necessary.

Cultural Landscape Report for Weir Farm NHS, Volume II - Analysis and Treatment

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