New Entrances Welcome Guests

By David L. Cordes, Administrator

2004

Terrace Hills Site Improvement project, a two-part endeavor reworking entrances, has now been completed. The site work has restored the Grand Avenue gate piers; all vehicular traffic is now via that gate, which historically was the front entrance to the property. The west entrance, which in the past served as the service entrance, now accommodates pedestrians, allowing tourists to access the visitors center in the carriage house. Gone is the fortresslike wall of stairs that visitors had to scale in order to obtain access to the carriage house. In its place, guests now follow a pleasant pathway that meanders its way to the carriage house as well as the mansion.

This project came about after five years of planning. In fact, the first meeting of the Terrace Hill Site Development Committee was called to order in August of 1998 by Chair Cal Lewis. The initial issues were the development and enhancement of the historic garden areas located around the mansion and the area within the lattice fence in the south lawn, and the improvement of pedestrian and vehicular circulation patterns while providing ADA accessibility.

In the spring of 1999, the Commission selected HLKB architects to develop a Site Master Plan upon which all of the subsequent site projects would be based. Planning began in December of 2000. The design team at HLKB consisted of Ann Sobiech-Munson, architect, and Carl Rogers, landscape architect and professor at ISU. As various preliminary concepts were presented to the Committee, members did not always agree, and at times, a consensus was difficult to obtain.

A lengthy document prepared by the federal government, The Secretary of the Interiors Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes, provides direction that is useful in understanding the complex issues and how that secretarys standards should be applied. As is the case with any set of guidelines and rules, which are designed for every possible situation, they were complex and difficult to understand.

Judy McClure, historical architect with the Iowa Office of Historic Preservation, as well as Rachel Franklin-Weekley and Mark Weekley made several visits to discuss issues and concerns of the Committee. While they helped answer questions and concerns expressed by Committee members, they also shared their own concerns. Efforts were made to understand the historic appearance of the landscape and to combine that look with the modern amenities needed to accommodate a working home, necessitating modifications and additions of nonhistoric elements. Ever mindful that changes should be done in the scale and character of the property, the group wanted those changes that were historic, and those that were not, readily apparent.

The original landscape of Terrace Hill was designed by J.T. Elletson, a landscape architect who had worked at Buckingham Palace in London. Further work was done in 1885 by Jacob Weidenman, an associate of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, the designer of Central Park in New York.

All of the officials that reviewed Terrace Hills plans agreed that changes to accommodate accessibility and to provide for increased safety and improved pedestrian flow were necessary and important and would not compromise the overall integrity of the historic landscape. Additionally, they felt that it was of great importance that the Grand Avenue gate piers be preserved or restored exactly as they were originally constructed and that the original shape of the circle turnaround drive be preserved, even if enlarged.

The paving material used for the sidewalks was concrete because this was the material used at Terrace Hill by 1884. For the driveways and pedestrian pathways located in areas that were historically carriage drives, exposed aggregate concrete was chosen because it closely imitates the appearance of the historic gravel surfaces yet provides the serviceability of pavement.

Thanks goes to the people who have served on the Site Development Committee: Dwight Jensen, chair; Linda Grieve; Sara Hill; Vi Neil; Bob Rennebohm; Jerome Thompson; and Nicki Wiederstein. Past members are Angela Corio, Cal Lewis and Dee Wittmack.

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