Farrand, Beatrix Caldwalder (Jones)

Beatrix Farrand was an influential American landscape architect of the early 20th century with strong connections to Mount Desert Island. Childhood summers were spent on the shore of Frenchman Bay in Bar Harbor at her family’s summer home, Reef Point.

At the behest of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Farrand specified naturalistic plantings along Acadia National Park’s carriage road system, some framing scenic views. Earlier, she had designed the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden at the Rockefeller family’s estate in Seal Harbor.In 1945 (following the death of her husband Max), Farrand established a non-profit organization to carry forward the couple’s plan for a landscape study center at Reef Point. It included demonstration gardens, a herbarium, and her extensive reference library. Farrand recruited a board of directors to oversee the study center from her New York society friends and professional colleagues, with the addition of two local men: Robert W. Patterson and Charles K. Savage.

”After the loss of Reef Point in 1955, due to financial issues, Farrand moved to Garland Farm in Bar Harbor where she spent the remaining years of her life, passing in 1959. The property is now the headquarters of the Beatrix Farrand Society…” (“Beatrix Farrand” at National Park Service [ https://www.nps.gov/people/beatrix-farrand.htm : accessed 27 February 2025]).