An Arcadian Landscape. The California Gardens of A.E. Hanson [Paperback]

A. E. Hanson (Author), David Gebhard (Author), Sheila Lynds (Editor)

Book Description

Series: California Architecture and Architects | Publication Date: January 1, 1985

The architect of some of Southern California's most notable and spectacular gardens of the 1920's. This book reconstructs the making of nine of them, including the Harold Lloyd estate in Beverly Hills, the Andalusian garden of Archibald Young in Pasadena, and the Italian garden of Kirk Johnson in Montecito. The autobiographic first chapter gives an engaging account of Hanson's self training in the profession and his dealings with clients.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Hennessey & Ingalls (January 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0912158913
• ISBN-13: 978-0912158914
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,168,305 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creating Gardens in Los Angeles in the 1920s, May 8, 2001

By 

Mark Goldschmidt (Altadena, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Arcadian Landscape. The California Gardens of A.E. Hanson (Paperback)

I love this book. The writing is totally conversational, effortless to read, yet full of insight and humor. A.E. Hanson practiced landscape architecture for many years in southern California, and during the 20s he became very successful creating gardens for wealthy clients. His biggest and most notable commission was the Harold Lloyd estate which he created (including hiring and directing the architect) over the course of several years before the depression.

Every landscape architect and landscape contractor will enjoy this book. His descriptions of the problems he faced, and the way he dealt with them, are amusing and inspiring. He describes, for instance, walking through a gulley in Benedict Canyon, a miserable eroded dry wash, and telling Harold Lloyd (who has just purchased it) that, "sure, no problem, we can put a golf course here" then going back to his car and sitting with his head in his hands for half an hour wondering how in the hell he was ever going to deliver on his promise. Needless to say, he delivered, and the story of how he did what he did makes a great story.

Everyone who has ever built anything big knows the huge effort required to carve beauty out of inanimate and uncooperative materials ( and dealing with clients, architects, and builders) . You will relate to A.E.'s story, and you will learn something.

A great book. Lots of black-and-white illustrations, many (if not most) from the period, illustrate the text very well. Like all Hennessy & Ingalls publications, it suffers a bit from mediocre printing, but it is a nice looking paper-back book and that's a small quibble. Well worth the price.