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Photo, Print, Drawing Olompali State Historic Park, Mary Burdell Garden, U.S. Highway 101, Novato, Marin County, CA Olompali State Historic Park

View 20 images in sequence.
[ Photos from Survey HALS CA-4  ]

More Resources

View 3 images in sequence.
[ Drawings from Survey HALS CA-4  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HALS CA-4  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HALS CA-4  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Olompali State Historic Park, Mary Burdell Garden, U.S. Highway 101, Novato, Marin County, CA

Other Title

  • Olompali State Historic Park

Names

  • Historic American Landscapes Survey, creator
  • Burdell, Mary B
  • Northern California Chapter of the Historic American Landscapes Survey, sponsor
  • Pattillo, Chris
  • Garrett, Cathy
  • Olompali People, sponsor
  • Cooperating Association of Olompali State Historic Park, sponsor
  • Einstein, Diane
  • California State Parks, sponsor
  • Rodriguez, Danita
  • National Trust for Historic Preservation, sponsor
  • The California Cultural and Historical Endowment, sponsor
  • West Coast Office of The Garden Conservancy, sponsor
  • Flack, Betsy
  • Kellner, Clint
  • Parkman, Breck
  • Lloyd, Christopher
  • Elliott, Ben
  • Burdell, Charmaine, editor
  • Einstein, Diane, editor
  • Hurley, Marianne, editor
  • Gracyk, Janet, editor

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 2000

Headings

  • -  Victorian architectural elements
  • -  estates
  • -  formal gardens
  • -  country houses
  • -  state parks & reserves
  • -  campus - picturesque
  • -  campus - picturesque
  • -  landscapes
  • -  naturalistic landscape architecture
  • -  California -- Marin County -- Novato

Latitude / Longitude

  • 38.15254,-122.57064

Notes

  • -  Significance: The Mary Burdell Victorian Garden is a notable example of formal Victorian garden design. It represents the distinctive characteristics and aesthetics advocated by garden designers and horticulturists of the period 1850-1890 such as Andrew Jackson Downing and was one of the earlier gardens of this type to be designed in the Bay Area. The garden was developed under the direction of Mary Black Burdell, the owner of Rancho Olompali in Marin County, California. In the nineteenth century the garden and its adjacent residential complex lay at the heart of an 8,800 acre agricultural property which is now an expansive State Historic Park. Olompali was representative of the Bay Area estates developed by many wealthy Californians in the late nineteenth century which generally exhibited a residential "core" with a main house, auxiliary buildings, a wide entry path, and formal landscaping. These estates were surrounded by working agricultural land that often included orchards, pasturage and vineyards. The garden was constructed in 1886-74. In 1911, Mary Burdell's son, James, extensively remodeled the existing house into a twenty-four room mansion that bore little resemblance to the Victorian wood frame house of his parents. The James Burdell house continued to incorporate portions of the original Camilo Ynitia adobe. James made additions and alterations to the original garden. While a number of formal Victorian gardens were developed in the Bay Area in the late nineteenth century, very few remain, with the Burdell garden representing a rare surviving example. Factors ranging from cost and labor intensiveness to dramatic changes in taste resulted in many of these designed landscapes either being removed or so substantially altered that their Victorian design aesthetic has been completely lost. Although the Burdell garden has become naturalized over a number of years, the design and planting patterns of the garden continue to be identifiable and it retains many of its major architectural features and a number of elements of its historic plant palate.
  • -  Survey number: HALS CA-4
  • -  Building/structure dates: after 1866 Initial Construction

Medium

  • Photo(s): 20
  • Measured Drawing(s): 3
  • Data Page(s): 27
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 2

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HALS CA-4

Source Collection

  • Historic American Landscapes Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • ca3443

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

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Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

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  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
    • If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
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    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
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  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

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  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
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Access to Originals

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  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

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      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, Creator, Mary B Burdell, Sponsor Northern California Chapter Of The Historic American Landscapes Survey, Chris Pattillo, Cathy Garrett, Sponsor Olompali People, Sponsor Cooperating Association Of Olompali State Historic Park, et al. Olompali State Historic Park, Mary Burdell Garden, U.S. Highway 101, Novato, Marin County, CA. Marin County Novato California, 2000. editeds by Burdell, Charmaine, Einstein, Diane, Hurley, Marianne, and Gracyk, Janet Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ca3443/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, C., Burdell, M. B., Northern California Chapter Of The Historic American Landscapes Survey, S., Pattillo, C., Garrett, C., Olompali People, S. [...] Elliott, B., Burdell, C., Einstein, D., Hurley, M. & Gracyk, J., eds. (2000) Olompali State Historic Park, Mary Burdell Garden, U.S. Highway 101, Novato, Marin County, CA. Marin County Novato California, 2000. Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ca3443/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, Creator, et al. Olompali State Historic Park, Mary Burdell Garden, U.S. Highway 101, Novato, Marin County, CA. ed by Burdell, Charmaine, et al Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/ca3443/>.