Jensen held strong beliefs about a nature-based approach to his designs (both public and private) and their ability not only to provide a refuge from the city and daily life, but also to serve as preserves for native plant species. Among the many parks Jensen designed, including Chicago’s Garfield, Douglas, Humboldt and Columbus Parks, Columbus Park is considered his most important work, designed with a prairie river edged with native wetland plants and pools that resembled swimming holes.
Columbus Park, c.1935 Courtesy Chicago Park District Special Collections |
As Jensen made a name for himself, he was able to work in both public and private sectors and was increasingly sought out by the owners of grand estates in and around Chicago. He designed at least 350 private estates in the Midwest and beyond, as far as California. His most famous private commission was Henry Ford’s estate in Dearborn, Michigan.
Council ring designed by Jensen, Questover, Indianapolis, Indiana |
Haven Wood, Lake Forest, Illinois |
The Archives of American Gardens includes garden documentation for a number of Jensen’s residential designs including Haven Wood, a large estate in Lake Forest, Illinois which no longer exists. Haven Wood included designs by architect Howard Van Doren Shaw and landscape architect Rose Standish Nichols who collaborated on a number of projects together. Jensen is credited with laying out the meadow in front of the house, the numerous trees enclosing the property and the estate’s now-lost formal garden.
-Kelly Crawford, Museum Specialist
Archives of American Gardens
Smithsonian Gardens
Where's the former Haven Wood? McCormick? T Desmond
ReplyDeleteHaven Wood is in Lake Forest, bordered by Sheridan Rd. and Ringwood Rd. It is now a subdivision, but there are still elements of the old garden existing.
ReplyDeleteThis Havenwood view appears to be of the garden north of the house by the Howard Shaw architectural firm (perhaps including then David Adler) and by garden designer Rose Standish Nichols. This was Edward L. Ryerson's second Havenwood estate in Lake Forest, dating from the second decade of the 20th C. Jensen's work here is well known and published in Leonard Eaton's book on Jensen and in Norman Newton's Design on the Land. Better known for Jensen are sweeping views south of the house: his large, sun-filled meadow framed by woods and his winding drive. Jensen in all worked on perhaps forty known commissions in the Lake forest area, and maybe more that were not documented by drawings. Few survive intact today (one is the Hasler estate at Green Bay Road and Vine Ave.) though large portions remain of his estates on Green Bay Road, especially in north Lake Forest (Moore, Miller) and in south Lake Bluff (W. V. Kelly). Perhaps more significant is his legacy of preservation and restoration of the native landscape, led by Open Lands organizations in the two communities. Art Miller, Archivist, Lake Forest College.
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