Written By Andrean Maier Cover Photo from UMD Archives
Photo taken by Andrean Maier
Recently, I had the privilege of taking a tour through the historic Glensheen Mansion when it was beautifully decorated for Christmas. The guides for this tour were well-informed and guided us through the home, pointing out details and sharing its history. My thoughts as I was led through the place were all over the place. I loved each different fireplace, artwork, and wallpaper pattern. There were also many Christmas trees throughout the house that caught my eye, decorated so lovely and uniquely for each space. I noticed the types of wood used in each room and appreciated the Congdon's attention to each little detail.
Although the interior was beautiful, one of the biggest things I wanted to take notice of was the view from each room. Glensheen is on Lake Superior! Because it was cold, we spent the tour inside, even though Glensheen is sitting on a beautiful and diverse plot of land. Because Duluth is almost always this cold, I imagine the Congdon family often interacted with their beautiful landscape through these windows. Yes, the Congdon's curated each beautiful detail in their interior spaces, but it doesn't even need to be argued that they also did such for the exterior. The Landscaping for Glensheen, although natural looking, was curated by the Congdon's.
Chester and Clara Congdon bought this land in 1903 with the intentions of building their family home. The 22 acre plot of land they chose was further away from downtown and the developed part of the city of Duluth and lakeside. Chester had a great love for nature, and we can see this reflected in the plot of land as it was back then before it was built on (Michael Lane and Dan McClelland 1980, 7). It was diverse in rocky shores, rivers/creeks, and forests. The Congdon's wanted to "preserve as much of the natural beauty of the property as possible; they also hoped for the property to be self-sufficient so they could live off the nature" (Glensheen 2025).
Leavitt's original drawing up of Glensheen's landscape
Blueprints from UMD archives
Charles Wellford Leavitt, Jr. was hired to be their landscape architect. He was from New York and did most of his designing from there. This may have made designing a bit tougher, but Leavitt delivered on what was asked of him (Cosmos Mariner 2025). He took on the challenge. Would he be able to deliver?
Thankfully the present day gardens and landscaping have been kept to Leavitt's design other than some necessary changes for preservation (Cosmos Mariner 2025). We also have extensive records of what was planted, blueprints, and gardener's daily journals in UMD's historical archives. Because of this we get an accurate picture of what the grounds were like.
Leavitt was given this diverse plot of land to redesign with the requests of it preserving natural elements and including more to be self-sustaining. In order to please Chester's request to preserve, Leavitt's plan caused little disturbance to the natural environment; instead, he enhances its beauty and mediates the transitions from natural woods to "English country estate" (Michael Lane and Dan McClelland 1980, 2). The building of the home came with some cutting down of trees and changing the land and so in order to keep the natural look, hid many unnatural elements (Michael Lane and Dan McClelland 1980, 5).
The Trees:
During the tour the guide mentioned that at one point there were no trees blocking the view of the lake and that the Congdon's had many planted. Leavitt got to work planning what type of tree. In a few letters written back and forth with some landscape nurseries we can see how some varieties did not do as well in Duluth's harsh winter. Leavitt got to do some experimenting (Michael Lane and Dan McClelland 1980, 4). Although these trees were planted in natural looking clumps, the spots to where each clump was placed was carefully thought out and curated.
Formal Gardens and Greenhouses:
Now to the self-sustaining aspect, Leavitt included fields for cattle to graze; he planted gardens and an orchard with intention to feed; and created greenhouses for growing exotic plants, like banana trees, and annuals to fill the formal gardens in the spring and summer (Glensheen 2025)(Michael Lane and Dan McClelland 1980, 6). His background in civil engineering helped with irrigation and water supply (Michael Lane and Dan McClelland 1980, 5). Such things supplied water to all of the gardens. This would not have happened naturally.
Glensheen has beautiful formal gardens broken up with fountains, brick, and stairs. These areas are more obviously curated. They were near the home itself leading you inside. They took shape after English landscape gardens with a loose look and excess of beautiful flowers (Michael Lane and Dan McClelland 1980, 3). Yet even those gardens were more structured then appeared.
Photo from Brett Groehler
Photo taken by Andrean Maier
Paths and Additives:
Leavitt created trails spanning the grounds each a curated experience yet contrasting to the formal gardens (Cosmos Mariner 2025). There is a clear contrast to Glensheen's formal gardens and more natural style landscape, but each would have been curated experiences. The paths were made with intention to lead you around the grounds. Some cross over a beautiful stone arched bridge that blends into the ground around it. There was even a bench designed to fold away and blend in more with nature but provide a spot to sit mid stroll (UMD Archives). Though leading you through nature, the paths were nothing natural.
Photo from UMD archives
Photo from UMD archives
The Congdon's were going for the look of an English country estate, and they hit it on the nose. Later English gardens specifically looked to creating a natural look while working with the land (“How to Create a Landscape Garden like Capability Brown” 2020). They were working with a large amount of land and plenty of resources. These are ideal conditions for a garden such like the English. The style reminds me of a William Kent or Capability Brown. Americans like Frederick Law Olmsted took inspiration from them and Leavitt, inspiration from him (Michael Lane and Dan McClelland 1980, 7). The main things I want to point out is clump planting to get a more natural look and guiding paths along the grounds.
Now if you were not questioning if Glensheen was an English estate, Chester and Clara chose the name "Glensheen" to make that connection for you (Webb 2009, 6). There is no room to guess where the curated natural look came from.
Curated does not equate to bad. For Glensheen, the curated natural works. Chester's wishes still came true. The grounds preserved the lands natural beauty. Some would say that curated was better than completely natural because of how reliant the manner was on it's gardens. Some would say that the exterior rivals the interior in beauty (Webb 2009, 4). It is understandable then why I wanted to look outside while touring the inside. After the tour I braved the cold and walked through these beautiful grounds. The beauty of nature stood out to me and not the intentions of man.
Glensheen. 2025. “About.” Glensheen. 2025. https://glensheen.org/about/.
Groehler, Brett. 2019."Glensheen's Formal Garden." Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth, Accessed December 10, 2025. https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll484:717
“How to Create a Landscape Garden like Capability Brown.” 2020. English Heritage. 2020. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/blog/articles/create-garden-capability-brown/.
Lane, Michael , and Dan McClelland. 1980. “Glensheen’ a Landscape: The Congdon/Leavitt Story.” Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/185819.
Mariner, Cosmos. 2025. “The Landscape Historical Marker.” Hmdb.org. February 20, 2025. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=266398.
Webb, Jennifer. 2009. “Golden Age Collecting in America’s Middle West: Chester and Clara Congdon’s Glensheen Historical Manor and Raymond Wyer’s an Art Museum.” Journal of the History of Collections, August, 1–15.