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Estates
Bamboo Brook Historic Landscape – Water System Restoration
Morris County, New Jersey
In her book The Spirit of the Garden, Martha Brookes Hutcheson stated that “to introduce water is to include the fantastic and the intangible, and a garden without it is robbed of poetry and romance.” Following this ideal, Hutcheson designed and implemented a complex rain water harvest system to feed pools connected by a rock-edged stream at her home, Bamboo Brook. In 2000, Heritage Landscapes developed a Preservation and Maintenance Plan for the Morris County Park Commission. Historic documents conveyed the importance of the water system, which supplied water to the house, pools, swimming tank and circulated water through the garden. Over time elements failed. Heritage Landscapes is restoring Hutcheson’s unique water system at Bamboo Brook to their historic character and function.
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Hutcheson’s hand-written notes convey the complexity of the system of surface swales, concrete curbs, cistern tanks, pipes, and catch basins used to collect and distribute rain water.
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This 1920s illustrated plan, photographs and writings documented the character of the water system designed by Hutcheson as both a functional and ornamental landscape feature.
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Field survey work revealed substantial deterioration of water system features. Local conditions highlighted the need to harvest stormwater. The project to restore the water system included detailed environmental review.
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Hutcheson era historic photographs were a useful source in construction detailing for the multiple elements of the water system. Many original pipes, catch basins and tanks are repaired and retained in situ.
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The construction documents direct reinstating both character and function of the pools and stream system with updated recirculation and filtration systems to conserve water.
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Careful disassembly of historic masonry unveiled layered construction, alteration and repair over time. Original detailing is enhanced for durability in the current work.
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The main swimming tank is poured as a shallow basin, adapting to public safety requirements.
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Complete restoration of the upper pool is currently underway, recapturing the character-defining water system at Bamboo Brook.
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