The Garden Squares of Boston
"In this remarkable book, Goodman tells the story of Boston's garden squares and offers readers a fascinating glimpse of early urban planning, touching on the evolution and preservation of the garden squares of the South End of Boston . . .  [A beautifully illustrated story of urban communal gardens." --New England Antiques Journal"The idea of creating slivers of residential green spaces, often ornamented with elegant iron fences and fountains, was imported from London by celebrated Boston architect Charles Bullfinch. The purpose was to enhance the views and value of abutting townhouses, rather than encourage actual usage. Goodman, a Boston landscape preservation consultant and former director of the Friends of Copley Square, details the history and evolution of five of the eight publicly developed garden squares of the South End, plus now-paved-over gardens such as Bullfinch's Franklin Place, and the great iconic survivor, Louisburg Square. Built in 1826, Louisburg Square is now one of only two private London-style garden squares in the United States, the other being New York City's Gramercy Park." --Carol Stocker, Boston Globe"[A successful effort that illuminates much about larger topics while addressing a seemingly narrow one... the book provides a wealth of information... the illustrations are outstanding and useful and the argument persuasive.  Goodman's book will encourage readers to discover, or newly appreciate, these charming garden squares."--The New England Quarterly"Goodman contributes to our understanding of the development of Boston in the nineteenth century. Her thorough discussion of the South End squares clearly demonstrates that the gardens were planned and planted long before any houses were built or lots sold. She convinces us that these gardens were meant to be signifiers of urban refinement, independent of the architecture that would soon enclosed them and evocative of fashionable possibilities. In the early 1850s, the South End was to be imagined as a new neighborhood, complete with gated parks surrounded by modern townhouses in the latest style. By building squares surrounded by empty lots, Boston rejected an imaginary landscape of gentility in a rapidly changing city. Goodman's research points the way to a fuller understanding of the role of the landscaped square in this important period of Boston's development."--Winterthur Portfolio