CHAPTER XII
MAY 1895–DECEMBER 1895

The first letter in this chapter, to John Charles Olmsted, demonstrates Olmsted’s realization of his failing memory, an ailment that would force his retirement only three months later. The remaining two letters from May, written during Olmsted’s final visit to Biltmore, show him struggling to see his vision for Biltmore Village come to fruition and the extent of the problems encountered in the firm’s preliminary planning for the arboretum. After his return to Brookline, Olmsted wrote several letters regarding work at Biltmore. The letter to Chauncey Beadle explains Olmsted’s desire to achieve “subtropical luxuriance” in the planting of the Approach Road. His letter to James Gall addresses one of his main frustrations with the work at Biltmore: the lack of suitable gravel for roads. A letter to Rick offers advice for how to use the time at Biltmore to advance his career and recommends strategies to acquire knowledge of plants for use in landscape design. Other letters address work beyond Biltmore. Olmsted’s letter to Frank Squier expresses his indignation that unauthorized changes to Prospect Park would undermine his and Vaux’s original design. His letter to Sargent Murphy shows the importance of park keepers in educating the public. The letter to his half-brother Albert Henry Olmsted—the final letter signed by Olmsted in firm records—shows his desire to see his firm play a prominent role in creating the best possible park system for his hometown of Hartford, Connecticut.

Following Olmsted’s forced retirement because of his deteriorating mental condition in August 1895, he continued to write to his partners and to Rick, offering advice on a wide range of subjects. His letters to John and Charles Eliot in September show his acceptance of his failing health and [920]poignantly express his hope that he can still be of use to the firm. Letters to Rick in October, November, and December demonstrate Olmsted’s continuing concern for Biltmore and his aspirations for Rick’s education. The October letter identifies Rick as the firm’s most knowledgeable employee about the Biltmore commission. The November letter shows the urgency with which Olmsted, as his career came to an end, hoped that his design at Biltmore would be realized. The December letters offer Rick professional advice for his time in England so that he could make the Biltmore Arboretum a private work of lasting public significance. The December letter to John Charles Olmsted offers Olmsted’s assessment of Rick’s professional progress and his recommendation to John that the firm study the growing popularity of plants grown in greenhouse conservatories so that they are better prepared for the future. Finally, the undated letter to Rick features Olmsted’s aspirations for the writing of a book on the use of shrubs in landscape design: a project he had long hoped to complete.