Charles Freeman Gillette

Charles Freeman Gillette (3/14/1886 to 3/30/1969 (Cedar Hill Crematory in Washington, DC)) was Virginia’s (and one of America’s) premier landscape architects and was associated with the establishment, restoration and recreation of historic gardens in the South and in particular, Virginia.  Gillette established a regional style—known as the "Virginia Garden"—characterized by its understated classicism and attention to detail. He linked architecture and landscape in a manner seldom found today, not only emphasizing the traditional features of landscape design but also carefully shaping each of his creative outdoor environments to complement the most distinctive elements of his clients' homes and broader surroundings. Although Gillette most often developed domestic landscape designs for individual clients, much of his work also included large-scale corporate, educational, and government projects.

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Born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, Gillette by 1909-1911 was serving as an apprentice in the office of Warren Manning, a leading landscape architect at the turn of the century. Gillette married Ellen Cogswell in 1912 and moved to Richmond in 1913 to supervise the completion of Manning's landscape design for Cram & Ferguson’s University of Richmond's campus. In 1915 he began designing the grounds of the Nelson House in Yorktown and in 1924 commenced work on the landscape restoration of Kenmore in Fredericksburg.  In 1923-1924, he began working with Charles M. Robinson for the design of the modern William & Mary Campus and numerous landscaping plans were completed through Robinson-Gillette collaborations and the original plans are held and cataloged by the Library of Virginia.  In the late 1920s, he initiated plans for the landscaping of Virginia House and Agecroft Hall, both reconstructed English manor houses located in Richmond's Windsor Farms neighborhood. Extensive additions to the Virginia House gardens were completed in 1939. During the 1950s, Gillette redesigned the gardens of Virginia's Executive Mansion at the request of Governor Thomas B. Stanley as well as designed the grounds for the Richmond headquarters of the Reynolds Metals Company and the Ethyl Corporation. His commissions also included hundreds of residential projects throughout Virginia and North Carolina.

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The Library of Virginia has an extremely large number of Gillette plans, but the Architectural Archives of Boynton, Rothchild Rowland contained a number of J. Binford Walford and Charles Gillette plans, as follows, that are not listed in their Gillette Plan Inventory:

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• The 1935 large (on onion skin paper) "Campus Plan of College of William & Mary, J. Binford Walford Successor to Charles M. Robinson Architects ….Charles F. Gillette Landscape Architect, Richmond, VA"  shows all College buildings with corresponding numbers around the sunken gardens and designs future landscaping.

• In 1936, Charles Gillette designed the gardens for the new office of J. Binford Walford at 103 East Cary Street and on the plans he gave his office address as the same—103 East Cary Street. 

• The massive set of 1944 J. Binford Walford architectural plans for McGuire Park Apartments (FHA Project 051-60018) in Richmond show Mr. Gillette as the Landscape Architect and include his plans. 

• The massive set of 1947 J. Binford Walford architectural plans for Ocean Lake Apartments (FHA Project 051-40042) in Virginia Beach also show Mr. Gillette as the Landscape Architect and include his plans. 

• The 1953 set of J. Binford Walford architectural plans for Tidewater Hall – the main administrative building at Norfolk State University—include Mr. Gillette’s landscape plans. 

• The 1953 J. Binford Walford Plans for the New John B. Cary School for Richmond Public Schools include and extensive landscaping plan by Mr. Gillette. 

• The 1958 40"x84" massive original pencil and colored pencil "The Anthony-Seeger Campus School (James Madison University)" rendering of landscaping and plot plan prepared by Walford & Wright on Aug 22, 1958, Charles F. Gillette Landscape Architect.

• Two Very Large Onionskin pencil renderings "Planting Studies" and "Planting Plan" for Franklin Hall at Ferrum College by Wright Jones and Wilkerson show Charles Gillette as the Landscape Architect - both are dated January 30, 1963.

• The 1963 Large 40" x 50" Pencil on heavy parchment Campus Master Plan for Ferrum College shows every existing building and landscape feature including trees, shrubbery, etc. and includes "Charles F. Gillette, Landscape Architect, Richmond, VA [for] Wright, Jones and Wilkerson.  Scale 1' = 80feet.”

 

Mr. Gillette died on March 30, 1969 one week after having a cerebral thrombosis event while living at Imperial Plaza in Richmond.  He was a widower at the time of his death.  His remains were interred at the Cedar Hill Crematory in Washington, DC. No obituary was found for Charles Gillette.