Thomas L. Rinker announces the release of a three volume history of Windy Gates and Devon Hill.
Volume I: The Windy Gates Era
Volume II: The Devon Hill Era
Volume III: Designs and Decisions
The Devon Hill community, located just north of the Olmsted Brothers-designed Roland Park neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, was formerly the Windy Gates country estate of the Joseph Wilcox Jenkins family during the Gilded Age period. The Jenkins home was designed by noted architect Henry Bacon, and the extensive landscaping of the property was designed by Olmsted Brothers and later modified by Thomas Sears. Windy Gates was one of five adjacent country estates owned by the extended Jenkins family that included formal and natural landscaped areas, spread across hillsides and stream valleys. Forty years ago, the historic estate was repurposed as a condominium and residential community based on an award-winning design selected by the Jenkins family. The design was prepared by Baltimore architect Charles Brickbauer and executed by the Azola Companies, a firm that has specialized in historic preservation projects in the Baltimore area. Extensive archival documentation has been used to present a detailed narrative of the evolution of the landscape and architectural work during the 100-year period the Jenkins family-owned Windy Gates and the subsequent four decades that the Devon Hill community has maintained and enhanced the property. The three volumes contain the entire architectural and landscape history of the property as it has evolved over 175 years—from the simple 1845 home of Dr. Septimus Dorsey to Devon Hill today. Utilizing vintage and current photographs, plans, and maps, the book documents the estate’s mansion, formal gardens, landscaped natural areas, as well as a working farm and the many remnant buildings that are part of the property. The book draws on the extensive information found in the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, the Smithsonian Institute: Archives of American Gardens; the Library of Congress, and the archives of the Jenkins family, developer Martin P. Azola, and the surveying firm of S.J. Martenet & Co.
To purchase the books, please visit the following link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BP8GJFXP?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tpbk