The historic designed landscapes of Fletcher Steele in Rochester, New York: An intensive level survey

This thesis reviewed seventy-five properties Fletcher Steele (1885--1971) designed in the Rochester, New York metropolitan area from 1914 to 1971. The problem facing Steele's designed landscapes (not only in the Rochester area) are that his garden designs are not well known and are being altered or destroyed and many without proper documentation before demolition. Throughout his professional career, Steele created more than 500 landscape designs primarily for single family residential properties.;Utilizing repositories housed at various institutions, a master list of Steele's clients in the Rochester area was developed. These client properties were identified and researched for their association with Fletcher Steele. Fifty-seven of the seventy five properties in the Rochester, NY metropolitan area were visited and documented based on a list of character-defining landscape features. Treatment recommendations were made for three properties based on analysis comparing the existing landscape features with Steele's original design intent.