The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), Plan for the Seat of John Penn Jr. Esq. in Blockley Township and County of Philadelphia
When
John Penn built
The Solitude, he commissioned a landscape plan for his 15 acre property, now at the heart of the Philadelphia Zoo. This plan is fully consistent with mid-18th Century English country estate garden conventions, as might be expected given his English upbringing.
John Penn lived during a key period in British landscape design and he was very aware of the landscaping fashions of the period. Penn grew up at Stoke Park, Buckinghamshire, England, an estate landscaped by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, the leading landscape architect of his time. When John Penn returned to Stoke Park from Philadelphia in 1788, he engaged Humphrey Repton, the noted landscape designer of the late-18th and early-19th Century, to revise the landscape as part of a massive rebuilding program.
Beyond the necessities of an 18th Century estate, the landscape plan for The Solitude has many fashionable components: open views of the Schuylkill River from the house; footpaths offering carefully framed vistas and strategically placed clumps of trees; a “ha-ha,” a recent innovation to prevent livestock from entering the gardens; a picturesque flower garden; a bowling green; and a “wilderness” with carefully laid out trails.
In May 2008, master gardener Robin M. Potter was invited to develop a new landscape design for the gardens that surround The Solitude. Thanks to the generosity of the family of the late Walter Gray, the Zoo has been able to use Robin’s design to create the
Walter Gray Family Gardens.
The design for the renovation of the garden is a careful balance between the history of the landscape, with its roots as a mid-18th Century Philadelphia country villa, and the landscape needs of today, as a focal point of the Philadelphia Zoo.
Lager Raabe Skafte Landscape Architects, Inc.
The original landscape plan for The Solitude provided the inspiration for the new design which includes carefully framed views to and from the house, and plants used in estate plantings of that period. At the same time, by incorporating attractive native plants into the design, the gardens also provide zoo visitors with an important education on the use of indigenous plants in a modern garden, promoting local wildlife-friendly habitats.
In a nod to the more informal approach desired by John Penn, and reflecting today’s busy lifestyles, the Walter Gray Family Gardens at The Solitude are designed for lower maintenance. Flowering and fruiting plants were selected for seasonal interest throughout the year. Plants were matched against specific site needs and growing conditions.
Included in the Gray Family’s gift is a wonderful challenge. They will match non-family contributions towards this project, dollar for dollar, up to a total of $125,000. The Grays’ intent is to bring Robin Potter’s inspiring design to life and to create the necessary endowment that will allow these gardens to be maintained in perpetuity.
You are invited to help make this wonderful dream a reality by answering the challenge. Please contact the Development Office at 215-243-5227, or
click here to support the new gardens at The Solitude.