The first of three girls born to Dr. Arthur Nichols and Elizabeth Homer in 1872, Rose knew early what she wanted to do in life. George Taloumis ,whose article appeared in Rose Standish Nichols As We Knew Her, quoted Ms. Nichols' response when asked about her successful landscaping career. “My active interest in garden making began when as a child, under the guidance of my grandfather, Thomas Johnston Homer, I cultivated a tiny posy bed on his Roxbury estate.”
Education
Although women of the 1890s did not pursue careers as garden architects, Rose was determined to learn about horticulture and garden design. With encouragement from her uncle, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, she studied with Thomas Hastings in New York. Later she took a course in architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Then it was on to Paris and the Beaux Arts School of Architecture. Soon after, Rose put her education into practice, designing her a walled garden at her parents’ summer home in Cornish, New Hampshire.
Beside formal education, Rose wanted to see famous gardens of the world. She traveled to England where she visited estates, drawing pictures of the covered walkways and graceful arches. Spending long hours in the British Museum, she sketched designs of fountains and statues pictured on old tapestries. When Rose returned to Boston, she wrote and published English Pleasure Gardens in 1902. Shortly after that, a Beacon Hill neighbor hired Rose to design a garden.
Professional Life
Before long, Rose was traveling across the United States—Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, California—drawing plans for clients and guiding workers in creating formal gardens. More travels in Europe took Rose to Spain, Portugal and Italy, gathering material for books and magazine articles. Because of these professional contacts, Willa Cather, an editor, became one of Rose’s lifelong friends. In 1924, Rose published Spanish and Portuguese Gardens and in 1928, Italian Gardens.
An Advocate for Peace and Women’s Rights
Along with her professional interest, Rose held teas at her Beacon Hill home to encourage discussions about philosophical and political issues. Together with Willa Cather and Jane Addams of Hull House, she worked for women’s rights. In 1915, she helped to found the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Unsuccessful in getting a woman delegate assigned to the American Peace Commission in 1919, Rose traveled to Paris herself and sat in on all of the public meetings, trying to get her views recognized.
A Place in History
Rose remained single and lived in her Beacon Hill home at 55 Mount Vernon Street for 75 years. In addition to her political and professional commitments, she was a collector of art and antiques and took pride in adding them to her residence. Believed to have been designed by the architect Charles Bullfinch, the house became a museum in 1961. Visitors can step back in time and see first hand many of Rose’s treasured items.
Sources:
Driscoll, Elizabeth and Belinda Rathbone, Tea with Miss Rose-Recipes and Reminiscences of Boston's Teacup Society,Mount Vernon Press, 2002.
Taloumis, George, "Rose Standish Nichols Sixty Years Ago She Organized the Beacon Hill Reading Club (1896) ", Reprint, Rose Standish Nichols As We Knew Her-A Tribute to a Friend, Friends of Rose Standish Nichols, 1986, 5.
 |
