The Willows, a favorite walk on Cushing's Island. Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

Even when viewed from the mainland shore, Cushing's Island has an appearance distinct from that of the other islands in Casco Bay. Some of the features which distinguish it are immediately identifiable: the visual integrity of the shoreline; the dispersion arrangement of the buildings; the absence of fences and walls, creating a sweep of open space; and the simplicity and cohesiveness of the architecture. How is it that this island developed so differently from its neighbors?

Until the mid-nineteenth century, many of Casco Bay's islands were in agricultural use, primarily sheep grazine. Lemual Cushing, a wealthy Canadian purchased the island in 1859. Recognizing the Island's potential as a summer resort, he immediately erected a hotel named the Ottawa House.

Cushing's Island was ushered into the resort era in the 1860s with the arrival of the first quests, a wave of "rusticators" from Montreal, Boston, and New York. They were described by summer resident William Sargent as, "No crushes; no rushes; no mere mob in good clothes, but a comparatively limited social circle who knew all about each other; where culture and character vie in the courtesies and small decorum of a truly aesthetic social life."1 Praise for Cushing's Island and the Ottawa House was effusive; it was considered the finest resort in Casco Bay.

"The Ottawa House [is] the only hotel of modern construction, size, and appointment existing among the islands of Casco Bay. Of all the islands that are in close touch with the City of Portland, and obviously, these are the most populated and popular of the bay, Cushing's has numerous points of superiority as a resting retreat... The summer life of Casco Bay is very merry and is nowhere seen to more lively advantage than from the broad verandas of the loftily situated Ottawa House."2

Mr. Cushing lavished much care and attention on developing a picturesque landscape on the Island. Under his stewardship a carriage road was built between the ferry dock and the hotel, and a number of footpaths were laid out. During the winter months, he employed grounds keepers to clear underbrush and decayed trees, grade the carriage road, and develop new footpaths. With respect to the paths, Elwell in Portland and Vicinity praises the care taken, "in their selection through pastures and woods, thus securing nice grades, and then by grubbing and graveling, so improving the natural advantages, that parts of the Island roads seem well cared for as the pet preserves of some nobleman's park."3 Lemual Cushing died in 1875 and his son Francis took over management of the Ottawa House. In 1881 Francis announced his plans to develop the Island into a summer residential community. The project got under way with the formation of the Cushing's Island Company in 1883, which purchased the Island and the Ottawa House. Wishing to avoid a haphazard development which would destroy the value of the property, the Trustees of the Company hired the "best talent in the country, Frederick Law Olmsted," to prepare a plan.4

Olmsted visited the Island in 1883 accompanied by his stepson and partner, John C. Olmsted, Jr. and Charles Eliot, landscape architect. Eliot recorded the visit in his diary and from his May 6th entry we know that they met with Francis H. Fassett, Maine's most prominent architect at the time; E. C. Jordan, a Portland civil engineer; and client, Francis Cushing. Eliot also recorded Olmsted's recommendations, which are included in full, demonstrating the senior Olmsted's ability to quickly take in the site and articulate specific improvements.

"In the course of the day it came out that Mr. O. Would recommend the company to act about as follows - considering the things already determined upon.

• Brick hotel enlarged and sewage of the same made thoroughly safe. Considerable area near hotel reserved for hotel cottages.
• Boating, beach, and tennis and other play grounds, made common to all the island people.
• About 50 lots. Small on the landward and smooth part of the island, where the roads should be planted as "village streets" of the picturesque order. Large where the building sites are finest and particularly on the ocean shore.
• Large reservations should be held in common at White Head and on the southwest Point and these should be connected by a wide strip down the middle of the island, and along the highest ridge whence views can be had in both directions at once.
• The whole shore should be common to all.
• Pine seed sh'd [sic] be sown among the dying spruces so as to have a growth to fall back upon when the spruces are removed.
• Not safe to cut and clear away now for fear of losing the mosses, ferns, etc."5

These initial thoughts formed the basis of a report and a subdivision plan which were presented to the Trustees of the Cushing's Island Company a week after this visit. The plan called for few improvements; instead the intent was to enhance the natural scenery, mainly by providing access to the desirable features: walks, vistas and beaches. Olmsted recommended that the island be owned by a "club of families of congenial tastes united only for the purpose of preserving and developing its character." Olmsted believed the success of the development depended upon preserving its natural scenery. In order to distinguish Cushing's Island from a thousand other places along the coast, he suggested that nearly fifty per cent of the island remain as common property and stressed the importance of "...securing the free common use of these points of observation and to prevent their outlook from being either obstructed or put out of countenance by structures for private convenience."As recorded by Charles Eliot, the plan proposed that the entire circumference of the island be held as common property, including cliffs and beaches and the adjoining land for a footpath. Large public areas around the Ottawa House and Whitehead were connected by wide parkway-like carriage paths. The road from the Portland Ferry Dock (Civilian Dock) was to be seventy feet wide and flanked with trees; all other roads were to be forty feet wide. Olmsted viewed the roads which were all along the highest ridges, as common land from which to view the expansive vistas in all directions.

In order to preserve the natural scenery, Olmsted provided specific guidelines on siting, scale, materials, and detailing so that the architecture would compliment rather than dominate the landscape:

...[No] structure be made more conspicuous than its leading purpose requires, it being kept constantly in view that the value of the property in the long run, on the whole, will be dependent upon the art that conceals rather than displays itself, and which favors the large and most unsophisticated enjoyment of nature that can be reconciled with a fair measure of convenience.

In order to achieve "the art of concealment," Olmsted recommended, "that no house be over two stories in height or thirty feet to the top of the roof and that their lower stories shall be of local stone." On the upper or more conspicuous parts of the house, "jig-saw or other extremities and puerile ornaments" were advised against. Olmsted proposed that "no fences or other structures shall be placed between the houses and the sea, except of rough local stone." To encourage the incorporation of local stone into the houses, the free use of the "present" farm walls and loose stone was sanctioned.

The stone of the island may apparently be very cheaply quarried, and if the outside of all the buildings shall present a view, only the local stone or shingles, without paint or gingerbread work, shall be draped with the foliage of vines natural to the locality, the general result will be most effective.

Siting and setbacks also contributed to achieving the "art of concealment."

With a view to unity, harmony, and congruity of general effect, it is advised that no house shall be allowed to stand within thirty feet of the road line on the smaller lots, nor within sixty feet on lots of over an acre in extent.

Preliminary Study for laying out Cushing's Island, by Olmsted (1883).

Because the shore road was to run around the perimeter of the island and only the large lots were to border this road, each house would be set back at least 120 feet (the distance from the shore to the road being twenty feet; the width of the road forty feet, as stipulated by Olmsted; and the setback for large lots sixty feet). This setback distance has been largely respected and accounts for the visual integrity of the shoreline. Olmsted also suggested that the large lots include a deed restriction stipulating that a distance of 500 feet measured in a line parallel with the shoreline separate the houses, so that they"...would be scattered leaving large spaces unencumbered by artificial objects."6

"The Report and Advice of Frederick Law Olmsted, for the Development and Improvement of Cushing's Island" provided a framework for development; however, key to the implementation was Francis Cushing, client and owner. Any analysis of the Cushing's Island plan must take into account the wishes and motivations of owner, Cushing, and his effect on the final design. When Cushing first approached the Olmsted firm, his primary goal was to develop the island "with pretty villas." He also expressed a desire that the development enhance rather than detract from the island's picturesque qualities.7

One can only speculate on Cushing's motives for hiring the Olmsted firm. As a businessman, he must have hoped that the national reputation of the firm would attract investors. However, his personal attachment to the island and his view of himself as steward must also be considered. Francis Cushing appears to have had a personal desire to control development and insure the integrity of the island. Agnes Hale, a longtime summer resident, described Cushing's stewardship as almost dictatorial: "What Francis Cushing wanted, was done, the cottagers never met, they never discussed any community question or decided anything."8

Cushing chose to publish the report as part of the prospectus, indicating his and the Board of Trustees' support for it. As a result, while many of Olmsted's recommendations were followed, much of the residential development was never realized. The concept of privately supported areas held in common was adopted with covenant provisions incorporated into the deeds, as was the stipulation that the grounds in front of lots boarding the shore road be kept open and unobstructed.

Another key component to the successful execution of Olmsted's vision was the simplicity of the architecture, most of which were designed by John Calvin Stevens. Although Stevens did not meet with the Olmsted party on the Island tour, he must have been involved with the proposed development from the start. Two of Stevens' sketches for cottages on the island appear in the Olmsted report as it was reprinted by the Trustees of the Cushing's Island Company soon after Olmsted submitted it in May, 1883.9

Stevens' architectural career began in 1873. Following his graduation from Portland High School, he worked as an office boy for Francis H. Fassett, Maine's leading architect of the day. He was quickly promoted to draftsman and, in 1880, became a junior partner. Soon after Fassett sent Stevens to Boston to open a branch office. The office was in the same building occupied by William Ralph Emerson, a noted architect credited with designing the first fully developed monument of the new Shingle Style.

In 1884, Stevens started his own practice, and with the apparent blessing of Fassett, acquired several of Fassett's clients and most of the Cushing's Island commissions. The majority of the cottages on the Island were designed and built between 1884 and 1888. Stevens' work during these years moved toward an ordered, unified, and simplified architectural statement,"...a classic stage in the development of the Shingle cottage style... which should formalize and, as it were, objectify the picturesque."10 The William A. M. Sargent Cottage and "The Shelter" both designed by Stevens perhaps best illustrate the full expression of Olmsted's vision.

The Shelter, designed by John Calvin Stevens (1886). Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

In the 1890's, anticipating the Spanish American War, the United States Government purchased land on the ocean side of Cushing's Island and constructed Fort Levitt. The prospect of war, together with an economic recession, curtailed Island development. By 1914, the United State Government had acquired two hundred acres, nearly half the island. Soon after the end of World War II, Fort Levitt was purchased by the United States Safekeeping Company, who then sold it to Island residents in 1970. At that time, sixty acres were transferred to the Maine Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. In 1982, the Nature Conservancy transferred title of the preserve to the Cushing's Island Conservation Corporation.

There are many factors of Cushing's Island development that contribute to its distinct appearance: its early agricultural use, management by the Cushing Family, economic and political situations, and the Olmsted plan. Although never executed in full the plan has influenced the Island's development. The visual integrity of the shoreline, the dispersed arrangement of the buildings, and the access to land held in Common can be directly attributed to Olmsted's vision.

By 1982, the lots on the landward side of the Island had been subdivided so as to obscure any tract of the original Olmsted layout. Counting the Fort buildings there are just over forty residential buildings, far less than if the Island had been developed as planned. The amount of common land is greater than Olmsted proposed.

One can only imagine how the island would have looked had it been fully developed and the Ottawa House was still standing. However, the report and plan prepared by the Olmsted firm continues to have relevance today. And much can be learned from the comprehensive approach.

Elizabeth Igleheart, an Advisory Trustee of the Alliance, is an architectural landscape historian with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

Endnotes

1. William A.M. Sargent. An Historical Sketch, Guide Book, and Prospectus of Cushing's Island, Casco Bay, Coast of Maine. (New York: American Photo Engraving Company, 1886). Page 91.
2. Gems of Casco Bay, Portland, Maine: G. W. Morris. No date. Special Collections, Avery Library, Columbia University, New York, New York.
3. Edward H. Elwell. Portland and Vicinity. A facsimile of the 1886 and later 1881 enlarged edition, with a new forward. (Portland, Maine: Greater Portland Landmarks, 1975.) Pages 92-93.
4. Olmsted Papers, Library of Congress, General Correspondence Job File 675. James A. Hudson Attorney to Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., November 22, 1882.
5. Charles Eliot, "Diary, May 1883 - July 1884". Francis Loeb Library, Harvard School of Design. May 6th 1883 entry.
6. Frederick Law Olmsted, Report and Advice of Frederick Law Olmsted for the Development and Improvement of Cushing's Island, Maine. May 10, 1883.
7. Olmsted Papers, op. cit., Hudson to Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., November 22, 1882.
8. Robert and Agnes Hale, Cushing's Island - Two Memoirs, privately printed, 1971. Page 13.
9. The prospectus, Summer Homes Cushing's Island, Portland Harbor , Coast of Maine. New York, Hosford & Sons, 1883, includes sketches of proposed cottages.
10. Vincent J. Scully, Jr. The Shingle Style and the Stick Style, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1971. Page 116.