Published: August 2008

Created in 1898 by Architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in Lake Forest, Illinois, Ragdale served as the family retreat for more than three-quarters of a century. The Ragdale Foundation was founded by Shaw’s granddaughter, Alice Ryerson Hayes, in 1976; since then, Ragdale has welcomed nearly 2,000 artists-in-residence to these graceful grounds.

In 2001, the Ragdale Foundation reached a new agreement with the City of Lake Forest, which owns the property. With a 99-year lease secure, the Foundation undertook long-range planning to preserve and restore the property. After 25 years of operation, it was clear that without intervention and careful planning and management, the resources that have given Ragdale its identity and significance for more than a century would begin to disappear. The landscape had become especially vulnerable to irreversible change. The resulting Landscape Master Plan was based upon a collaboration of Ragdale staff and trustees, professionals, Shaw family descendants, artists-in-residence, and community stakeholders.

In December, Alliance Communications & Development Director Caitlin Strokosch Glass spoke with Carol Yetken, the landscape architect who created the Master Plan, about the preservation process. Carol’s firm, CYLA Design Associates, is based in Oak Park, Illinois.

Caitlin Strokosch Glass: What drew you to the job at Ragdale?

Carol Yetken: First, the magical place. One really has a sense of enfoldment when you experience a house and its surroundings that are in peace with one another. What is happening outside this envelope is screened, and in much of the property, extraneous and distracting influences are not visually disruptive. The challenge of the project was to recognize and protect those elements in the landscape which contribute to this.

How was it decided what to preserve, what to restore, and what to change anew?

Those elements which contribute most to the peaceful feeling of the site were recognized and will be preserved and restored, including the historic elements of the house and grounds, and the organization of special features on the site such as the fountain and wooded areas. This is really Howard Shaw’s legacy of the care with which the original grounds were developed. There are a wealth of historical photographs and family oral histories that serve as guides for preservation and restoration. An area on the site, referred to as the “historic precinct” is also being preserved and restored.

The maturity of the landscape is one remarkable feature of today’s Ragdale. For example, one of the small elm trees that we see in the old photographs is a large, spatially dominating feature in the landscape today. Therefore, restoration was not a solution for this area; rather, today’s visitors get to experience the fruit of the Shaws’ vision. The grounds also suffer from an overabundance of plant materials, invasives that are crowding out higher quality trees and shrub masses. This has required creating a management plan for the wooded areas which will largely be subtractive in nature.

Landscape elements that are looked at with a new eye include the addition of new art pieces to the grounds. Because this is a living community of artists that is nurtured by this environment, it makes sense that there is a continuity with adding new art within the grounds; such pieces have been added with thoughtfulness and have been incorporated into the new plans, just as Ragdale has done with the development of new facilities.

Maintenance is another factor that played into the preservation decisions. The emphasis in the general landscape is a sort of “self-maintenance” of the plant materials. The tradition on the site is that most plantings were informal. The exception to this was a formal garden specially designed and maintained by Shaw that was fairly high-maintenance. Only half of this original garden remains, surrounded by very mature and graceful old cedars. It was recommended not to restore the missing half, partly due to maintenance demands and because some functions have changed on that part of the site.

There were some 21st-century considerations that had to be incorporated into the site as well: cars and parking, maintenance issues. It was decided to contain those functions to the perimeter of the site as much as possible. Cars are no longer allowed to park within the grounds and much maintenance is either done by hand or is performed from small vehicles which have the least visual and audible impact on the grounds.

How were future use considerations incorporated into the design?

Some careful thought was given to whether the staff, functions, and programs of Ragdale that are operated within the site will continue as they are, how they will change, grow or decrease. Ragdale has been very responsible to continually evaluate its current and future activities, and we conducted a “blue sky” seminar as part of the Master Plan process which threw open all ideas and thoughts of the future. A conscious decision was made to limit the size of events and access to the site to what it can hold without distressing and compromising the physical environment. This was a brave decision considering the usual pressure to think that bigger and more is always better. The Master Plan contains elements which protect the grounds, maintain and expand the primary function of Ragdale – which is to house and nurture artists – and provide space for their smaller and well-loved programs. For example, there is no place within the existing grounds for a tour bus to be accommodated. Although providing for bus tours is an idea that could be cultivated, it was decided that altering the grounds to the extent necessary to create turnarounds and parking for such large vehicles would totally compromise the historic integrity and in fact, spoil the rich fabric that still exists.

What challenges have you faced with this project? One challenge has been to maintain the scale of the original house and setting. This became a key point in retaining features that are extant and directly contribute to the feeling of the place. Selection of materials, particularly for the paving surfaces and site lighting has been a challenge. The original drives were loose gravel which was deemed to be impractical; a gravel imbedded asphaltic surface has been recommended instead. At night, which comes early in the winter, surrounding ambient light is virtually nonexistent, so some low but more even lighting is necessary for safety and circulation purposes. Because such lighting had never been present on the site, selecting fixtures that didn’t draw attention to themselves but were still effective, was a challenge.

Were there conflicts between what you wanted as a designer and what Ragdale needed as a functioning artists’ community?

For the most part, there were few recommendations that were in conflict between the preservation priorities and the functioning of the artists’ community. From its original inception, Ragdale was a place that was designed to nurture the creative spirit, and maintaining and enhancing that inherent quality is the essence of the preservation plan. Fortunately it was a win-win situation. For the most part, we took a conservative approach to altering the site in order to maintain its scale, like not widening the original road entrance to accommodate larger vehicles. This posed some consternation for some before they understood the whole plan.

What other ways did Ragdale’s use as an artists’ community influence the decisions that were made?

Because the primary purpose of the site is to support a creative, non-distracting environment for the artists, we were able to focus on preserving those elements that contribute to that atmosphere rather than change large areas of the site to accommodate ever-increasing demands for other types of uses. For instance, one of the outbuildings on the site, the Barnhouse, has long had adaptive uses such as housing the administrative offices. It is currently being renovated to add an accessible studio and a larger meeting room for some of the educational functions. This allows for greater flexibility within the preservation scope. A few alterations were recommended in the Master Plan that support making the site more accessible and improve internal foot circulation. Fortunately, we had historic precedent to fall back on, and restoring a driveway at pedestrian scale that had been removed years before solved that need very well.

What advice would you give to others who oversee historic landscapes before they begin such a project?

First, each project site is fairly unique. It likely has a history, architecture, a landscape, and people who were involved with the place, that is not duplicated anywhere else. It is important to learn as much as you can about the qualities of the site, both physical and spiritual. Historic records, photographs, letters and diaries should be researched. Not all sites will have all resource components available so you have to utilize whatever information is available to the best of your ability.

Second, do a thorough site inventory to understand what still exists, what may be old, what has been added and removed, when and why, in order to determine what contributes to the making of the place. The context and surroundings of the site are also important along with retaining as much historic fabric as possible.

Third, understand the historic, current and future uses of the site. This will certainly be necessary to determine what needs to be done with the site in order for it to function in today’s world. This may include whether a private home or estate needs to accommodate the public, cars and parking, safety, and visitor comforts. Is the projected function an adaptive re-use? What impact do these new uses have on the historic landscape? This is probably the single biggest challenge to the integrity of the preservation of any historic landscape.

Lastly (but not least) are considerations for funding and operations, including maintenance. It is crucial to the success of any preservation project to have these three related functions in order to achieve a successful and sustainable project.

And, enjoy the process! It almost always takes longer than you expect. Discovery along the way is the serendipitous reward of such an effort and keeping people informed as the project progresses can inspire support and sustain everyone involved in the project.

Thanks to Susan Page Tillett, Executive Director of Ragdale, and Carol Yetken for their contributions to this article. Photos are from the Ragdale scrapbooks.