Blithewold Mansion, Garden & Arboretum: Request for Proposals

Water Garden at Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum
Water Garden, Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

For the past few months, I have been consulting with Blithewold Mansion, Garden, & Arboretum as the organization prepares to undertake a National Historic Landmark (NHL) nomination of its historically significant landscape. Overlooking Narrangansett Bay in Bristol, Rhode Island, Blithewold is a Country Place Era estate that magnificently blends landscape design, architecture, and decorative arts into an integrated whole. In addition to representing a outstanding example of this era of landscape design, Blithewold also allows for an exploration of the work of designer John DeWolf and the role of women in American landscape history, an aspect of the project I have particularly enjoyed.

Together with the excellent staff at Blithewold, Inc., we have now completed a plan for the nomination and posted a Request for Proposals (RFP) for parties interested in completing the NHL nomination. We seek individuals or teams with experience evaluating historic designed landscapes and expertise in American landscape history and women’s history. If you are interested in learning more, you can find the RFP posted at http://www.blithewold.org/news. Deadline for proposals is July 1, 2014.