Old World Models in a New Land: James Logan’s Landscape Design at Stenton

Summary

Early American landscape design is often interpreted as the physical manifestation of the tension between British design principles and their adaptation in American settings. The final design and implementation of such landscapes in America often reveals a vernacular style that blends the ornamental with the functional, while also reflecting elements of transatlantic Enlightenment thought.As the center of cosmopolitan and Enlightenment thinking in colonial America, Philadelphia is an ideal model for exploring this tension. For Quaker statesmen such as James Logan, access to a vast transatlantic network of trade and culture is markedly evident in the design of his estate, Stenton. Recent archaeological investigations of Stenton’s forecourt have revealed elements of Logan’s original landscape design, which suggest that Logan used his landscape to demonstrate his economic, social and political power.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Foregrounding the Landscape in Archaeology

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-38,08