Allied Arts Guild
Location: Menlo Park
PGAdesign analyzed the condition of Menlo Park’s historic Allied Arts Guild—long home to renowned gardens, artists’ studios, and shops—and developed a restoration plan to highlight the site’s horticultural diversity.
Over the years, the artisans’ community of the Allied Arts Guild, established in the first half of the 20th century to support artists and especially folk art, had fallen into serious disrepair. PGAdesign was brought to the scene to examine the condition of existing features, and to establish a rehabilitation plan for the elaborate gardens and Moorish courtyards, as well as for the artisans’ workshops and stores.
Critical to the project’s success was PGAdesign’s understanding of international and Mediterranean plant species, European vernacular landscapes, and the history of landscape architecture. The Guild’s signature array of horticultural variety and excellence was not only restored but augmented and enhanced by two new courtyards designed by PGAdesign. Numerous gardens, with romantic names like the “Garden of Delight” and the “Court of Abundance,” were restored to their original glory. PGAdesign’s plan also provided for rehabilitation of an elaborate array of historic handcrafted paths created by the Guild’s original resident artisans.
AWARD
- 2006 Restoration Award, California Preservation Foundation (CPF)
Location: Menlo Park
Project Type:
Historic
PGAdesign analyzed the condition of Menlo Park’s historic Allied Arts Guild—long home to renowned gardens, artists’ studios, and shops—and developed a restoration plan to highlight the site’s horticultural diversity.
Over the years, the artisans’ community of the Allied Arts Guild, established in the first half of the 20th century to support artists and especially folk art, had fallen into serious disrepair. PGAdesign was brought to the scene to examine the condition of existing features, and to establish a rehabilitation plan for the elaborate gardens and Moorish courtyards, as well as for the artisans’ workshops and stores.
Critical to the project’s success was PGAdesign’s understanding of international and Mediterranean plant species, European vernacular landscapes, and the history of landscape architecture. The Guild’s signature array of horticultural variety and excellence was not only restored but augmented and enhanced by two new courtyards designed by PGAdesign. Numerous gardens, with romantic names like the “Garden of Delight” and the “Court of Abundance,” were restored to their original glory. PGAdesign’s plan also provided for rehabilitation of an elaborate array of historic handcrafted paths created by the Guild’s original resident artisans.
AWARD
- 2006 Restoration Award, California Preservation Foundation (CPF)
