Nathaniel Russell Garden, Charleston, South Carolina and Its Architect, Loutrel Briggs

March 31, 2010

 Nathaniel Russell Garden, Courtesy Historic Charleston Foundation

Nathaniel Russell Garden, Courtesy Historic Charleston Foundation

The Nathaniel Russell Garden is one of over 100 gardens in Charleston, South Carolina which was designed by the New York landscape architect, Loutrel Briggs.  Mr. Briggs began his designs in the 1920s, a period of restoration of Charleston’s historic architecture. Mr. Briggs saw the gardens as extensions of the homes.  He had traveled extensively in Europe and was influenced particularly by the gardens of England.

No garden was too small for Mr. Briggs to design.  Each space was carefully studied.  Features of a Briggs’ garden include individual spaces to create outdoor rooms, circles with paths and gardens that would delight year round.  He designed his gardens often using a certain 25 plants, plants that did well in the sultry summer weather and that were traditional to Charleston – camellias, azaleas, loquat, tea olives, and wisteria.  The further the garden was from the house, the less formal it became.  Mr. Briggs designs stamped a garden like silver is marked with sterling.

Historic Charleston Foundation Home and Garden tour: www.historiccharleston.org

Material in this article came from two sources:

“Edens Lost and Found, The Gardens of Loutrel Briggs 1893-1977”, Preservation Progress

Historic Pelham Blog Archive, October 20, 2005

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