THE SURROUNDS LAYOUT AND FORM OF SPANISH MISSION STYLE GARDENS OF THE 1920s GRADUATE REPORT FOR THE MASTER OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT (CONSERVATION) UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES D M TAYLOR B Larch 1989 UNIVERSITY OF N.S.W. 2 9 JUN 1990 LIBRARY TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT iv INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1 ORIGIN OF SPANISH MISSION STYLE 2 2 INTRODUCTION TO SPANISH MISSION IN AUSTRALIA 8 3 THE ARCHITECTURE OF SPANISH MISSION 1 9 4 INTRODUCTION TO AUSTRALIAN GARDEN DESIGN IN THE 1920S 30 5 SURROUNDS TO SPANISH MISSION 3 8 CONCLUSION 6 5 REFERENCES 6 7 APPENDIX I CONSERVATION GUIDELINES 6 9 II 1920s TYPICAL GARDEN FOR A BUNGALOW 7 3 III SPANISH MISSION GARDEN AT MOSMAN, NSW 7 5 BIBLIOGRAPHY 7 8 ii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page Fig 1 11 Fig 2 14 Fig 3 15 Figs 4 and 5 17 Fig 6 18 Fig 7 21 Fig 8 23 Fig 9 24 Fig 10 28 Fig 11 33 Fig 12 34 Fig 13 44 Figs 14 and 15 46 Fig 16 47 Figs 17 and 18 49 Fig 19 50 Fig 20 54 Figs 21 and 22 58 Figs 23 and 24 59 Figs 25 and 26 60 Fig 27 and 28 62 Fig 29 64 Fig 30 73 Fig 31 75 Fig 32 77 ill ABSTRACT This report examines the surrounds to Spanish Mission houses in the following areas: (i) Spanish Mission Style of architecture, its origins and adaptation to residential and commercial types in California from around 1890 to 1915 (ii) The introduction of Spanish Mission architecture into Australia and its rise in popularity from 1925 through to around 1936. One of the reasons for its popularity being the cultural influence of the United States. (iii) Many of the houses built in Australia were not true the Spanish Mission style as they borrowed forms and materials from the Bungalow Style. New concepts of external living areas were introduced, such as loggias and courtyards. (iv) The general garden influences and attitudes of the 1920s are examined, the cultural influence of England and the Meditteranean. Reference is made to garden designers in particular Edna Walling. (v) The gardens of the Spanish Mission style are examined. The Meditteranean landscape elements associated with the house and the incorporation of Australian native flora into garden design are noted. IV INTRODUCTION The surrounds to Spanish Mission style houses are distinctive for their landscape treatment. It is the purpose of this report to establish what makes these gardens distinctive and the factors that have been responsible for their form. In investigating the form and layout of the gardens, the Spanish Mission style of architecture is described, its origin in California and the architectural and cultural influences from which the style derived. The introduction of the architectural style to Australia is noted, as are the reasons for its introduction, its spread and location. The architectural characteristics are described which establish the Spanish Mission style. These architectural characteristics are described due to the integration of the architecture with the surrounds. The attitudes to gardens and landscape in the 1920s are described and the influence of garden designers Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll. Local practitioners, in particular Edna Walling, are noted and attitudes to the landscape and gardens described. The above discussion places the Spanish Mission style in its context and brings together the introduction of the style and attitudes to the existing landscape. The surrounds to Spanish Mission gardens are then described in detail and the relationship of the house to the garden. Chapter 1 ORIGIN OF SPANISH MISSION STYLE The Spanish Mission style of architecture can be traced back to the Spanish missions that were built circa 1769 to 1823 in southern California by the Franciscan monks while California was under Spanish rule. The missions were in valleys isolated from other settlements in locations dominated by the surrounding landscape. The architectural composition and elements were the result of the influence of Spanish architecture and a climate which featured hot southern Californian summers. The landscape surrounding the missions was semi-arid and were surrounded by rolling hills clothed in native scrub interspersed with rocky outcrops. The missions were located on small knolls within the valleys, the rolling hills behind providing a backdrop to the mission building. The immediate surrounds to the missions were cleared of the native scrub leaving a broad area of gravel/dirt to allow for wagons and carts. The mission building dominated the immediate surrounds with no planting being placed external to the building except for, in some instances, isolated palm trees. Landscape treatment within the buildings was restricted to a courtyard, which featured a well, formal garden and vegetable gardens. The missions, being isolated, required a certain degree of self sufficiency, with access to water being a prime consideration. The lack of water and religious purpose of the missions did not encourage time spent on the landscape surrounds to the mission. 3 Their architectural style reflected the poor supply of building materials and led to experimental workmanship and simplified design. The missions were made out of adobe bricks and featured massive walls with buttressing. Architectural elements included a large patio with fountain and garden, broad unadorned wall surfaces, wide projecting eaves and low pitched tile roofs. Other features included arcaded corridors, arches on piers, curved pedimented gables, terraced bell towers and lanterns.(1) With the development of California after the gold rushes of the 1840s and 1850s, the Spanish missions became a prominent element of Hispanic past. The 1880s brought development of tourism to California, especially from the eastern seaboard of the United States. The missions became an integral part of the promotion of the State. In 1884, Helen Hunt Jackson published the book Ramona, featuring the missions and their lifestyle and popularised the missions throughout the United States. Following the success of the book, United States railways organised 'Ramona' style tours which featured the missions as part of their itinerary and as result the missions became firmly entrenched as a major image of California.(2) The first major building that reflected the mission style was Leyland Stanford Junior University, located just north of San Francisco. In late 1886 Stanford hired landscape architect 4 Frederick Law Olmstead and the Boston firm of Architects Shepley Rutan and Coolidge to plan the university. Olmstead cited climatic reasons for erecting buildings suitable for California, commenting on the state's climatic similarity to Syria, Greece, Italy and Spain. Newspaper articles nominated the buildings as Californian in style without any prompting from the architects involved.(3) The form of the university with its arcades and courtyards borrowed the mission style, but the university can really be described as Richardson Romanesque with its roughly cut sandstone walls and Roman arches. Hispanic names were given to the streets and dormitories of the university to provide a Spanish influence. (4) Stanford University represents a transitional style of mission revival in form and layout, with romanesque detailing. Palm trees featured extensively as the formal landscape elements, with the native bush retained to . periphery of the site. Following this development architects in the early 1890s attempted to focus on the mission style architecture. Patios and enclosed courtyards of houses were illustrated with tropical foliage and palm tree imagery. With opening of the Columbian Exposition in 1893 the mission revival style of building became a more accepted architectural style. This was due to the impact of the Californian pavilion which was designed in the mission revival style. By 1897 mission revival style was entrenched in California and was part of the states 5 imagery. Its use started in residential design with a number of houses being built in the style.(5) Grilles and other ornamentation that would become a recognised characteristic began to appear later in the early 1900s. Various public buildings were designed throughout California in what became known as the 'mission style'.(6) The style did not really become popular until after 1906 when it was applied to many types of buildings. These included schools, service stations, bridges and apartment blocks. The style provided cheap ornamentation that gave the buildings an exotic look especially to apartment blocks, where in some instances a roof garden was included. (7) In 1915 and 1916 the Garden City company of California published Ideal Homes in Garden Communities, suggesting the mission revival to be the best for Califomias 'Garden Cities'. The style found support in both the Arts and Crafts movement and the American cement industry. The Arts and Crafts movement analysed the style as evocative of a tranquil and more meaningful existence. The Mission style possessed a 'simplicity that visually paralleled monastic life.' (8) As the style became more popular and commercial, the Arts and Crafts movement applied its philosophy to other areas of design. The American cement industry saw the mission revival style as a suitable vehicle to display both reinforced concrete and cement render as a finish.(9) 6 Mass produced books were available on the concrete bungalow style many of the styles featuring Spanish or Mission, and anyone could choose a design and submit a bid for the building. The result was that thousands of mission style buildings were individually poorly designed and all but obliterated the distinctiveness of the early style.(10) Spanish mission received a boost in promotion when in 1915 the Panama Pacific Exposition opened in San Diego. The New York architect Bertram Goodhue was appointed to the architectural directorship and nominated that the Churrigeresque style from Mexico should be the theme of the exhibition. The pavilions of the exposition drew inspiration from the large Spanish American public buildings and churches and thus did not have any direct relevance to domestic scale design (11) The romantic qualities of the style made a deep impact on the visitors to the exposition and revived interest in the Hispanic past of California.