Planting Design

Students in the Planting Design studio worked to develop several master plan alternatives for the Homewood House Conservation Center in Pleasant Grove, Utah. The brainchild and dream of Don and Brenda Wadley, Homewood was designed after the original Homewood colonial estate built by Charles Carroll in 1801 outside of Baltimore. After a long career in the State Department that took them across the globe, the Wadleys were inspired by their visit to the Homewood estate in Baltimore and returned to Don’s childhood home and farm to recreate the house in Utah.

The Wadley farm was established in 1900 and is a Utah Centennial farm; however, like many historic farms along the Wasatch Front, it has been surrounded by suburban development. The Wadleys believe that preserving Utah’s farming tradition is important for future generations, and part of the goal of the Homewood House Conservation Center is to both preserve the farm and provide educational outreach and research opportunities for the public. To further this goal, the Wadleys asked LAEP students in the Planting Design studio to create the master plan and planting schemed for Homewood that would respect the colonial heritage of the home, the agricultural heritage of the farm, and further the educational goals of the Center.

Students in LAEP 3500 visited Homewood House. They braved unusually cold temperatures to explore the five-acre site. All watercolor illustrations are prepared by student design (Cassidy Frost, Miranda Mann, Josh Quigley, and Jed Sorce).

Thirty students spent an abnormally frigid October day at Homewood walking the site and developing early conceptual designs for the site. Their task was to develop a formal colonial garden, conservatory, labyrinth, educational landscape, reception area, and productive farmland. The Wadleys were enthused by the energy that the students brought with them and their passion for the project.

Over the next several weeks, teams of students prepared several alternative master plans for Homewood. Creating a landscape that respected the Colonial style of the home while incorporating all of the required elements proved challenging. Working with the compartmentalized and somewhat disjointed colonial style, traditionally driven by practical functional concerns, was made more difficult by the triangular shape of the site bisected by a ravine.

At the close of the semester, the Wadleys visited USU Campus to attend the final presentations of the designs by the students. The Wadleys were impressed by the work that the students completed, saying that the students developed ideas for Homewood that exceeded what they had ever considered for the site. Now, armed with design ideas, Don and Brenda are ready to move ahead with the dream of creating a special place of heritage and learning in the heart of Utah County.