Thomas Warren Sears (December 15, 1880 – June 1966) was a noted American
landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...
.
Sears was born in
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...
to Alexander Pomeroy and Elizabeth Prescott (Jones) Sears. He received his A.B. in 1903 from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
, followed in 1906 by his B.S. in Landscape Architecture as a member of Harvard's first graduating class in the field. After establishing an office in Providence, Rhode Island, Sears moved to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and by 1917 had begun his own practice there, where he remained for the rest of his career.
His works listed on the U.S.
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
include the
Reynolda Historic District
Reynolda Historic District is a national historic district located on Reynolda Rd. in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It includes work by Charles Barton Keen and by landscape architect Thomas Warren Sears. The listing includes 22 contribut ...
, Reynolda Rd.
Winston-Salem, NC
Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...
(Sears, Thomas Warren) and
Graylyn
Graylyn Estate, or Graylin, is a historic estate located in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The construction of the Norman Revival style mansion began in 1928. A ...
.
Selected landscapes
*
Mt. Cuba Center
Mt. Cuba Center is a non-profit botanical garden located in Hockessin, Delaware, near Wilmington, in the gently rolling hills of the Delaware Piedmont. Its woodland gardens produce some of the most spectacular displays of wildflowers in the m ...
*
Reynolda Gardens Reynolda Gardens in spring
Reynolda Gardens are located off Reynolda Road, adjacent to the Reynolda campus of Wake Forest University and the Reynolda House in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The gardens are open daily with free admission.
The gar ...
* Scott Outdoor Auditorium,
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...
References
* Ruth Dean, ''The Livable House: Its Garden'', 1917
* Thomas W. Sears, ''Architecture and Design'', September 1941 and November 1953.
External links
*
Thomas Warren Sears Collection from theArchives of American Gardens
The Archives of American Gardens (known colloquially as AAG) is an archive dedicated to preserving documentation and content related to gardens in the United States. Established in 1992, the Archives are located in Washington, D.C., United States ...
1880 births
1966 deaths
American landscape architects
Harvard College alumni
People from Brookline, Massachusetts
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