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In search of a “genuine” Southern California park: evaluating the early cultural landscapes of Ralph Cornell for today

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IN SEARCH OF A “GENUINE” SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PARK:
EVALUATING THE EARLY CULTURAL LANDSCAPES OF RALPH CORNELL
FOR TODAY

by
Larkin Minnie Owens

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

May 2010

Copyright 2010 Larkin Minnie Owens
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have been extremely fortunate with the people and institutions that have helped me
through the course of writing this thesis. First and foremost, I would like to thank Rachel
Berney, as the Chair of my committee, for her incredible guidance and inspiration through
this process and my entire graduate school career. I would like to extend my gratitude to
Bob Harris, Director of the Landscape Architecture Program, as well, for attracting me to
the University of Southern California in the first place and serving as a wonderful resource
throughout my time at USC. As a whole, my thesis committee was outstanding. Ken
Breisch and Brian Tichenor presented a remarkable dialogue at each of my committee
meetings and consistently initiated further curiosities in my understanding of the cultural
landscapes of Southern California. Above all, I would like to express my utmost gratitude to
Brian Tichenor for so generously providing me with the dazzling idea of studying Ralph
Cornell. Cornell became the perfect vehicle for my academic interests.

In general, I would like to thank USC lecturers Doug and Regula Campbell, who so
eloquently re-awakened my interests in the global history of landscape architecture in my
first semester of graduate school. It has also been a great pleasure to be taught by Peyton
Hall, Trudi Sandmeier, and all other Historic Preservation faculty and guest lecturers at USC.
These studies have furthered my understanding of historic resources and management, as
well as challenged me to pursue cultural landscape preservation.

Several other people outside of USC are noteworthy of their assistance in my enquiries into
Ralph Cornell. It was such a pleasure to meet Marie Barnidge-McIntyre of the City of Long
iii
Beach and Rancho Los Cerritos. She is an extraordinary resource for disseminating
information about Ralph Cornell and I am extremely indebted to her. I would also like to
thank Ricah Marquez of the National Park Service National Register of Historic Places
Archives, Ruth Wallach of the USC Architecture and Fine Arts Library, Dace Taube of the
USC Doheny Special Collections Library, Gail Stein of the Beverly Hills Public Library
Historical Archives, as well as Robert Montoya, Simon Elliot, and Jeffrey Rankin at the
UCLA Special Collections Department, for all of their hard work in getting the materials that
I have needed. For thoughtful dialogue and support in general over the last eight months, I
would additionally like to express my sincerest appreciation to the following: Victor Walsh,
Darren Smith, Judy Shulman, David Streatfield, Bob Perry, Bob Grese, Pamela Seager,
Pamela Young Lee, Margaret Monti, Christine O’Hara, Steve Clark, Ken Pfalzgraf, Ellen
Calomiris, and Steve Iverson.

Finally, I would like to thank my exceptional parents, Kathie and Guy, and two brilliant
younger sisters, Ashlyn and Kelsey, for supporting and nurturing me always. I would not be
what I am today without them. I am also incredibly grateful for my Aunt Patti and Uncle
Rex, as well as my godparents, Gary and Cheryl Quinlan, who have consistently played an
influential role in my life. From the bottom of my heart, I would further like to thank Paul
Keys, my life partner, for being there and putting up with me through this entire process.
He is my constant. And for my grandma, Cookie, I would like to dedicate this thesis. Her
relentless spirit continues to inspire me at the age of 89.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ii

List of Figures v

Abstract vi

Chapter 1. Introduction 1
Landscape, Culture, & Preservation in Southern California 1

Chapter 2. Southern California / Background & Context 5
The Natural Landscape 7
The Cultural Climate 10

Chapter 3. Ralph Dalton Cornell / Landscape Architect 13
His Formative Environment 14
Case Study 1 / Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve 34
Case Study 2 / Beverly Gardens 57
The Later Years 78

Chapter 4. Significance of His Early Work 79
The Need for Green / Equitable Park Space in City Planning 82
The Dry Ground Park / A Plantsman of Great Consequence 86
A Landscape That Is, in Fact, “Genuine” 92

Chapter 5. Conclusion 94
Continuity / “Genuine” Cultural Landscapes for Today 98
Trajectory / Preserving a Great Legacy for Tomorrow 102
Areas for Future Enquiry 107

References 108
v
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Early photograph of Ralph Dalton Cornell on desert safari 13

Figure 2. Undated photograph taken of Pinus torreyana, Torrey pine, by Ralph Cornell 34

Figure 3. Undated watercolor of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve by Ralph Cornell 41

Figure 4. Historical postcard of Torrey Pines Lodge 45

Figure 5. 1922 Preliminary Plot Plan for Torrey Pines Park by Cornell & Payne 47

Figure 6. 1931 Improvement Map for Torrey Pines Preserve by Ralph Cornell 51

Figure 7. Coastal cliffs of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve today 56

Figure 8. Beverly Gardens lily pond, ca. 1925 57

Figure 9. 1929 General Plan for Beverly Hills, California, by Cook, Hall, and Cornell 60

Figure 10. Beverly Drive, north of Santa Monica Boulevard, 1923 65

Figure 11. 1930 Mylar study for Santa Monica Boulevard drawn by Ralph Cornell 71

Figure 12. 1930 Mylar study for Beverly Hills Parkway drawn by Ralph Cornell 71

Figure 13. Historical postcard of electric fountain 73

Figure 14. Section of Beverly Garden “strip park” in 1931, 60 days after completion 74

Figure 15. Beverly Gardens today, in place of where lily pond used to exist 77

Figure 16. View from Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve today 96

Figure 17. View of electric fountain from within Beverly Gardens today 97

vi
ABSTRACT
Defined by the National Park Service as “a geographic area, including both cultural and
natural resources…associated with a historic event, activity, or person or exhibiting other
cultural or aesthetic values”, cultural landscapes are a physical manifestation of how we
confer social meaning and perceive ourselves within the structure of the natural world. As
cultural landscapes embody our legacy and have the potential to invoke a deep sense of place
in an increasingly urbanized world, our decisions as landscape architects consequentially
shape how they are understood, valued, and transitioned into the future. As we determine
what voice to reveal and what constitutes authenticity in the cultural landscapes of Southern
California, the early work of Ralph Dalton Cornell is particularly telling. In 1912, at the age
of 22, Ralph Dalton Cornell published an article in the Pomona College Journal of Economic
Botany entitled “Wanted: A Genuine Southern California Park”, in which he was far ahead of
his time for championing the concepts of providing park space in intelligent city planning,
understanding and promoting the native landscape of Southern California, and demanding
the notion of distinctiveness in landscape design. In this study, the term “genuine” is
evaluated through the lens of Cornell’s professional evolution and early work in the context
of the Southern California region, with in depth case studies provided for his work at Torrey
Pines State Natural Reserve on the northern City limits of San Diego and Beverly Gardens in
the City of Beverly Hills just west of downtown Los Angeles. Ralph Cornell’s work is then
reinterpreted through contemporary concepts of authenticity, legibility, sustainability, and
urban vitality. Through this discourse, we get a sense of how these cultural landscapes are
important, how they contribute to our cities today, and how they may be preserved and
interpreted as our heritage for future generations.
1
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

LANDSCAPE, CULTURE, & PRESERVATION IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Cultural landscapes are all around us. They can be found within the vast expanses of our
shores, private garden estates, the relics of an industrial site, patches of rural farmsteads, or
the urban alleyways behind our homes. They reside in everyday surroundings as well as in
highly prescribed destinations. Defined by the National Park Service as “a geographic area,
including both cultural and natural resources…associated with a historic event, activity, or
person or exhibiting other cultural or aesthetic values” (Birnbaum, “Protecting Cultural
Landscapes” par. 2), cultural landscapes are a physical manifestation of how we confer social
meaning and perceive ourselves within the structure of the natural world. In revealing the
complex narrative of the evolving human relationship with land over time, they tell of our
diverse origins and development. They not only map our collective identity, but they also
embody our legacy. They provide a deep sense of place and are an integral component of
daily habitation. Cultural landscapes serve as an important tool for understanding our past,
valuing the spaces around us in the present, and managing our natural and built heritage for
the future.

In an increasingly urbanized world, the cultural landscape becomes the relevant plane where
we may create order and feel grounded within our existence. The landscape weaves together
the fabric of cities. It is the realm in which landscape architects design today, regardless of
where it falls on the natural-artificial spectrum, and our decisions as landscape architects in
this dimension are highly consequential. We must consider the essence of place: what voice
we will choose to reveal, which landscapes we will preserve, and which landscapes we will
2
redesign. What is pristine? What is genuine? How can our cultural landscapes be defined in
terms of authenticity? How, as designers, can we reveal a certain degree of honesty that
helps make a place, simply, what it is? To be able to effectively design livable, sustainable
places, we must understand the shifting dynamics and values found within cultural
landscapes and how they affect all levels of habitation. More specifically, we must not be so
blind as to displace the irreplaceable landscapes and features that contain cultural meaning
and are increasingly at risk of perishing in the face of globalization.

More specifically, the cultural landscape of Southern California is a brilliant collision of the
forces of nature and man. A query of the Southland
1
reveals a constant struggle between our
conquest of the natural world and Mother Nature taking it back (Deverell and Hise 241).
The spirit of California has long been steeped in the landscape: it is what drew people here
initially and where we look to define ourselves in a rich discourse through history, today.

Moreover, authenticity is a particularly interesting subject in consideration of the cultural
landscapes of the young and rapidly evolving Southland. Many landscape architects have
assessed what implications it might have in their treatment and cultural interpretation of
public park space. In 1912, at the age of 22, Ralph Dalton Cornell wrote an article in the
Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany entitled “Wanted: A Genuine Southern California
Park”, in which he championed his idea of a “dry ground park” (301). He wrote:
What could be more interesting and educational, to the people at large, than a public
park devoted to plants indigenous to our dry and semi-arid lands, and representative
of the many forms of plant life that are found along our coast slopes? A dry ground

1
Southern California was often historically referred to as the “Southland” in books, newspapers and periodicals, and
everyday popular language.

3
park, planted only to native trees, shrubs and flowers, would be one of the greatest
possible assets to Southern California, and especially to the community whose park
board was sufficiently aggressive and far seeing to establish such a system of
planting. Not in all California can one find a collection of the native flora of
sufficient consequence to warrant its recognition as such.

At the time, a showcase of native flora was unprecedented. Cornell was far ahead of his
time in suggesting such a public park, devoted to plants indigenous to our dry and semi-arid
lands. It was a time that was characterized by the grandeur of exotic gardens, created to
resemble paradise in this relatively newfound, sun-drenched land. He went on to say (301):
Europe is far in advance of us in the cultivation of plants that grow wild on our dry
hillsides, and unnoticed by us evolve, at our very doors, their wholesome lives of
purity and beauty. Instances may be commonly cited where, unable to obtain reliable
seeds at home, plant propagators have sent to Europe for seeds of flowers and
shrubs growing wild on our own hills. It is true that many native plants and seeds
are found in our markets, accessible to those who know, but the masses of people
are unaware of the abundant wealth of flower and foliage, lying on all sides of us,
inviting recognition and adoption.

Cornell thus also highlights the self-consciousness of most Californians of the time. We
were still relying on foreign soils for ideas, particularly in the design of our landscapes. We
were employing borrowed elements in a landscape that encouraged almost anything and
everything to grow, even if success was determined by the rapid consumption and
degradation of natural resources. And we were living in a place where outdoor living was
inherent. Cornell seemed to be promoting the idea of understanding our own landscapes
and finding new ways of “reading” it. Within this, he also promoted the idea of identity
(301):
Eastern residents, coming to California, find our parks quite similar to those which
they are accustomed to seeing. … The first mental impression upon visitors is the
lasting impression, and there is little strikingly or distinctively characteristic in the
landscape effect produced in our average park. A park should present a series of
living pictures, in plant life, executed along the lines of greatest possibility.
4

Aside from promoting native plants, Cornell was therefore making a larger argument to
define something that was distinctly our own, that was of this place. He highlighted the
struggle we find with nature as we strive to make our parks as artificial as possible – that it’s
not “restful”, that it only serves to “act as a living advertisement of what man can do if he
has time, water, and ample funds”. But a dry ground park, he argued, “would be at once
unique and individual; it would be decidedly typical and distinctly of California”. Cornell
described how he considered the native features of this dry ground park to be more
“genuine” than the landscapes that existed at the time.

In evaluating what a “genuine” Southern California park is and trying to determine what is
actually “genuine” in the landscape of today, the cultural landscapes of Ralph Dalton Cornell
are uniquely instructive. The term “genuine” is a social construct that equally invokes
cultural meaning in an indigenous landscape. This is particularly true in Southern California,
where several metropolitan areas continue to expand with a hodge-podge of conflicting
cultural identities. If we are unable to understand, value, or even relate on some level to our
cultural landscapes, we risk feeling detached and disoriented in the spaces around us. We
lose our sense of place and our quality of life begins to deteriorate. In evaluating two very
different urban parks on which Cornell worked in his early career, we are able to get a sense
of how these cultural landscapes are important, how they contribute to our cities today, and
how they may be preserved and interpreted for future generations. We can also reinterpret
Cornell’s work through contemporary concepts of legibility, sustainability, and urban vitality
to guide our design and planning today.
5
CHAPTER 2. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA / BACKGROUND &
CONTEXT

Aside from tangible, defining features, there is an “idea” of California that impresses upon
the minds of people around the world. While on military tour during World War I, Ralph
Cornell was traveling through the southern part of the Pyranees Mountains in France, a
place so remote, “the only method of ingress and egress (was) the foot of man or beast” (R.
Cornell, Conspicuous California Plants xix). He came upon an elderly Basque woman who
spoke only a few words of English and, aside from visiting Bordeaux once as a young girl,
had lived her entire life on the mountains. She hadn’t heard of the other great cities in
America, not New York nor Los Angeles, but upon the mention of California, she
exclaimed, “Ah, but yes…la belle Californie” (R. Cornell, Conspicuous California Plants xx).

This mental construct of California embodies the character of this place and has nonetheless
shaped its own history. Cornell described the impressionable character of California in
writing that, “…the traveler through California is inevitably impressed by the typical
landscapes of different sections that seem to set the tempo for each district, as well as by the
unusual and striking effects of outstanding localities” (Conspicuous California Plants xxii). As
nature and culture do not exist in isolation within the cultural landscape, we are forced to
reconsider what is “purely” Californian.

California is comprised of two distinct identities. Although the physical boundaries may be
somewhat ambiguous, Northern and Southern California are largely divided by aesthetics,
environment, culture, politics, and economy. The focus of this study is Southern California,
which is most often defined as spanning from the Mexican border to roughly 70 miles north
6
of Los Angeles, often including Santa Barbara, and extending east to the Colorado River at
the Arizona State line. An enquiry into both the natural landscape and cultural context of
Southern California helps to define what can be considered “genuine” here, and further,
helps us to understand the environment in which Ralph Cornell was designing.
7
THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE
The combined biological processes of geology, topography, and climatic variables over time
have shaped the natural environment of California with spectacular complexity. The
ongoing collision of the Pacific and the North American Plate along the coastal margin has
imposed gradual, and often volatile, uplift and subsequent erosion of landform (Rundel and
Gustafson 5-6). The resulting range of topography is comprised of a wide variety of rock,
mineral deposits, and soil conditions. California is also one of only five small regions of the
world with a Mediterranean climate (Rundel and Gustafson 2). This highly unusual
subtropical climate is characterized by mild, wet winters and warm, dry summers. With a
multiplicity of environmental conditions and habitats, California, in turn, supports a highly
diverse community of flora and fauna (Hickman 37-38). Through the ideal course of
evolution, it has become an ecological hot spot (Rundel and Gustafson 2). California now
contains approximately 6000 plant species, which is roughly three times the total number of
plants found in all of New England; 24% of these species are endemic (Hickman 55).

Certain variables create unique microclimates within Southern California. Temperatures are
increasingly moderate in proximity to the Pacific Ocean. Annual rainfall ranges from 0-2
inches in Death Valley to 35-45 inches in the mountains. After long periods of drought, this
rainfall often proves disastrous. The prevailing wind typically blows from the Pacific inland,
but during the fall and winter seasons, the Santa Ana winds bring dry, hot winds that roar
ferociously towards the Southern California coast. The marine layer in spring alternatively
creates cloud cover in the morning and a condition known as “June gloom” that blows off in
the afternoon.
8

Coastal Southern California rates higher than the rest of the State and the entire continental
U.S., in terms of biodiversity (number of plant and animal species) and conservation
significance (number of rare and endangered species) (Rundel and Gustafson 7-8). For
instance, 3874 species exist in Los Angeles County, alone; 391 of those species are of rare or
special concern (“Search for Plants” 14 Sept. 2009). The landscape mosaic is comprised
most recognizably of chaparral, riparian/coastal strand, oak woodland, and coastal sage
scrub plant communities (Perry USC Plant Palette). Coastal dunes and bluffs, conifer
woodlands, riparian woodlands, valley grasslands, montane forests, desert communities, and
a variety of other wetland habitats, marshes, and vernal pools also exist in more restricted
capacities.

At the same time, the abundance and diversity of resources have contributed to the allure of
Southern California: these critical assets exist simultaneously with the second largest urban
center in the nation. It is now home to roughly 16.5 million people (“Census Data” par. 1)
and houses two major cities, Los Angeles and San Diego. Although some of California’s big
wilderness has been protected by national and state legislature, the urban core has still
swallowed a significant portion of the hinterland. Exponential growth has resulted in
fragmentation and enormous threats to biodiversity, allowing for expanded points of entry
for invasive, non-native species (Rundel and Gustafson 276). Human activities are among
the most significant elements of rates of change, often resulting in the depletion of natural
resources and a decrease in environmental quality (Hickman 54). As Southern California
9
continues to grow, “nature” becomes increasingly urban and artificially created: man and
nature are no longer separate.

Two of Ralph Cornell’s early projects in Southern California are studied in detail within this
thesis. The first study highlights Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, which is a more natural
park located along the coastal bluffs between Del Mar and La Jolla within the northern city
limits of San Diego. Beverly Gardens, the focus of the second study, is a more formal urban
park located in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Los Angeles area.
10
THE CULTURAL CLIMATE
Victoria Padilla best described the cultural landscape of California when she wrote (3):
California has a richness of natural beauty; its allurement, however, is not based
entirely on beneficent nature, but rather on zealous individuals whose endeavors
made southern California one of the most interesting botanical sections on this
earth.

The drama of California can be equated as much with those zealous individuals as it can with
the land itself. Its myth as an earthly paradise has always drawn people from afar. As Carey
McWilliams wrote in Southern California: An Island on the Land, “…to understand the cultural
landscape in Southern California…it is necessary to know something about these people”
(138). In this new, opportunistic land, these people recalled the features that they identified
with “home” and the landscape was modified according to the cultural systems they brought
with them (McWilliams 138).

The 16
th
Century Spanish conquistadores first explored the “island” of California in search
of Eden (Padilla 3). This idea of paradise materialized in the garden. The Franciscan
missionaries arrived in 1769, bringing seeds and a wealth of earlier traditions that they
impressed upon the native people and land. Outside of these missions, most of California
remained wilderness during the Spanish-Mexican occupation. As Mexico gained
independence from Spain, ranching culture, pioneer gardens, and the Spanish concept of
outdoor living associated with the patio spread across the land. When the western frontier
was admitted to the United States in 1850, American settlers rushed the borders with the
promise of wealth and opportunity, as well as health afforded by a pleasurable climate.
Those early settlers in search of this Arcadian place were bold and often very affluent
(McWilliams 150; Streatfield 8). They developed a flair for the exotic architecture
11
reminiscent of similar Mediterranean climates and afforded by the adaptable nature of
California.

Land speculation increased towards the turn of the 19
th
Century and an urban grid began to
surface within the constraints of natural topography. The Los Angeles Aqueduct was
constructed in 1913, opening the floodgates to vast immigration in Southern California with
a seemingly endless water supply. Recurring columns in Out West Magazine that preached to
“Quit Your Worrying” and highlighted the benefits of “God’s Great Out-of-Doors”
underscored the luxurious balance of live, work, and play that embodied Southern California
at the time and drew from the unique landscape and climate. The designed landscape
became reminiscent of home and was brimming with exotic plants that relied on the lavish
use of imported water. The landscape shifted from that of utilitarian purpose to an eclectic
art and, with the rise of high culture, an important tradition of invented landscapes in
Southern California was born.

The American profession of landscape architecture was taking form in the last half of the
19
th
Century and remained largely in its infancy during this time period. Upon the assertions
of Andrew Jackson Downing regarding the need and opportunity for public park space in
New York City and with the careful execution of Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted,
Sr., Central Park emerged as a place where people could escape the density and squalor of
the city. Central Park was the most famous park project of the time and set a new paradigm
in the development of American park space. As Olmsted’s design principles spread across
the East Coast to the Midwest and settled upon the landscape of California, Olmsted
12
promoted the importance of wilderness, park space, and beautiful scenery for human well-
being, and the moral responsibility to preserve natural beauty.

With only a few practicing landscape architects based in Southern California after the turn of
the 20
th
Century, urban park space was only beginning to take form. As the profession and
the Olmsted influence began moving west, California was struggling to find a style that was
its own. Previously, its foreign inhabitants had largely “borrowed” from their native lands or
regions and abstracted their own cultural beliefs in their treatment of it. In response to the
disappearance of natural landscapes and the excesses of popular Victorian garden traditions
of the time, though, California began looking to its local landscape for inspiration (Streatfield
11). In the 1920s and 1930s, with railroads replaced by freeways, with the frenzy of urban
infill, and with the early manifestation of modernism on the rise in Southern California
(Streatfield 11), there was a distinct cultural shift in the Southland.

Ralph Cornell published his thinking regarding the need to unearth a “genuine” Southern
California park in 1912, prior to the complete influx of modernism and industrialism. As he
witnessed the immense transformation of the native landscape due to development, there
was opportunity to leverage and plan for the shifting values in relation to the cultural
landscape. The golden promises of the Western frontier distinguished California from the
rest of America and authenticity was required in the treatment of this landscape in order to
sustain the identity and, further, the idea of California. As is the case today, a balance
between nature and culture was critical to the vitality of this land.
13
CHAPTER 3. RALPH DALTON CORNELL / LANDSCAPE
ARCHITECT

Figure 1. Early photograph of Ralph Dalton Cornell on desert safari. Source: UCLA Library, Department of Special
Collections, as found in “Preserving “Nature’s Artistry”: Torrey Pines During Its Formative Years as a City and State Park”
by Victor Walsh.
14
HIS FORMATIVE ENVIRONMENT
Ralph Dalton Cornell (see fig. 1) believed that all people should live in beauty and its
environment (UCLA Oral History 15-16). Cornell acknowledged that people could live in
compromised situations, but believed they could thrive if afforded a higher quality
environment, such as those that were believed to exist in Southern California just after the
turn of the 20
th
Century. Though he admitted that heredity is a basic factor in establishing
one’s capacities, the actual environment has more to do with the development of those
capacities. He once wrote (“Beauty as a Factor in Education” 1-2):
Thus it is that the youth of any land grow up with all their future development and
capacity for joyousness toned by the background of experiences through which they
pass in their years of growth…In other words, it is very difficult to escape the
influence of environment, either of our animate or inanimate surroundings

Consequently, to understand the realm in which Cornell was designing and determine its
relevance for today, we must first understand his early surroundings and what he considered
“home”. The evaluation of Cornell’s early work and significant ideas provides an
opportunity for better understanding what might be considered “genuine” in the cultural
landscapes of Southern California.

A Man and His Horse
Ralph Cornell was born in the small town of Holdrege in southwest Nebraska on 11 January
1890. Growing up in the Midwestern prairies forever shaped how this man perceived and
valued his natural surroundings. At the age of five, Cornell took his first bareback ride on
Lucy, his grandfather’s horse (R. Cornell, “For Love of Horses” 1). He recalled (“For Love
of Horses” 1):
15
It was an experience which greatly influenced the next 15 years of my life and which
molded and shaped my way of thinking for the decades that followed. At the turn of
this century the era of the horse had reached its climax in our economic system and
was beginning to wane as it slowly slipped back into the memories and heritage of a
country which had leaned so heavily upon the services of raw horsepower…It was a
frightening experience but definitely exhilarating and accompanied by a compulsive
joy and pleasure that sometimes occurs from action within fields of danger. Perhaps
it was the thrill of sensing achievement under difficulties. In any event, from that
day on, I was a horseman at heart if not by achievement, a different “man” in every
way.

Cornell realized that owning a horse would facilitate what he loved best: to be out-of-doors.
When he was a young boy, Cornell wrote his first check to purchase his first horse and halter
for $15 (“For Love of Horses” 6).
In the deepening twilight of a summer evening, the western sky aglow of gold and
orange brilliance, a small boy and a golden Indian pony scuffed through the dust,
side by side, quietly on their way to new life and adventure…(this pony would)
chaperone a small boy in his quest for experience and adventure and the unfolding
processes of life that constitute growth.

So it was, on the back of a horse, that Cornell discovered a “lonely communion with
nature”
2
that would pervade his psyche for the rest of his life (Marshall and Marshall 150).
By the time his family relocated to California in 1908 (when Cornell was 18), he had to
dispose of five horses, which were his own personal property (UCLA Oral History 1-2).
This move symbolized a pivotal moment in Cornell’s life, leaving behind the pioneering days
in the Great Plains for the opportunity promised in the idea of California.

The Land of Sunshine and Eucalyptus Dreams
Cornell’s father had prospered in the lumber and cattle industries in Nebraska, though it was
a “rugged climate”, so to speak (UCLA Oral History 3). “Everybody had an eye to the sky

2
Ralph Cornell’s wife, Vera, also described that, “…This man’s religion was of simple derivation; the out-of-doors, the sky,
the sun, the moon, the stars, the earth itself and the plants that grow in the earth. He had a great reverence for the naturally
beautiful and he worshiped nature in her many guises; the mountains, the sea, the desert – all were sacred for him” (“Ralph
Dalton Cornell” 131-132).
16
looking for weather” which could wipe out a farmer’s hard work in one fell swoop (UCLA
Oral History 3). Following a winter vacation to California in 1906, Cornell’s family decided
to permanently pursue the “land of sunshine”
3
(V. Cornell 126). When they arrived in Long
Beach, Ralph Cornell settled into Long Beach High School to complete the credits necessary
to attend college, even though he had officially graduated from high school in Holdrege (V.
Cornell 126). The family, at the same time, settled into the booming eucalyptus industry.

At the turn of the 20
th
Century, the nation was becoming aware of America’s disappearing
trees and forests, they hastily looked towards the Australian eucalyptus tree for a profitable
enterprise in creating firewood and commercial milling timber for railroad ties and other
uses. However, wood fires for heating were becoming obsolete in America and the wood
proved difficult to manage. Cornell commented on how the eucalyptus boom was misjudged
because people at the time didn’t fully understand it (UCLA Oral History 28-30):
They did try to pickle them, as they called it, cure them in vats, for it was a curling of
the wood that caused trouble. When the wood dried it would warp, it would twist,
and they had great difficulty in developing usable lumber. They handled it
satisfactorily in Australia, but I think they had vats in which they soaked the wood in
chemicals. Then they would kiln dry it. That was not worked out sufficiently, here,
before the thing broke up…The trees were frost-killed above ground and root-killed
below ground by alkaline soil. So the whole thing was one of those pioneer projects
which looked well. It was endorsed by the federal government, which got out
booklets and pamphlets on eucalyptus culture, with illustrations and figures and
facts…So it was a case of trying something new in a different environment, and it
didn’t work out.

As the industry soon fizzled, Cornell’s family lost their life savings (V. Cornell 126).

3
The “land of sunshine” was a common term used to particularly describe Southern California, as well as the title of
Charles Lummis’ publication used to promote the “outdoors” of California and the idea of the Western frontier.
17
The eucalyptus boom-and-bust of Southern California colored Cornell’s future career in
several ways. First, these ventures served as a crash course in the wonders of the California
climate, in that people at the time were discovering that almost anything could grow here.
The willingness to experiment with what was growing in the first place further captured the
entrepreneurial spirit of California that made it intoxicating to newcomers. The idea of
“borrowing” or “introducing” from foreign soil similarly characterized this land. Moreover,
the eucalyptus industry served as Cornell’s first significant exposure to plant sciences and
industries, particularly in the use of non-indigenous species. That this distinct study of
biology could turn a profit is even more curious and this became his prime focus of study
under the tutelage of Charles Fuller Baker at Pomona College. Finally, because ventures in
the eucalyptus industry ultimately failed, this is perhaps where Cornell first recognized a need
for a better understanding of plants and natural systems in the landscape of Southern
California.

Horticultural Studies at Pomona College
With initial intentions of returning to Nebraska for college studies, Cornell soon fell prey to
the allure of the California landscape (V. Cornell 126). His mother’s friend had planted the
idea of attending classes at Pomona College, where her son went to school (UCLA Oral
History 5-7). In the fall semester of 1909, Cornell began to “work his way through college”
4

(V. Cornell 126). By chance, he enrolled his first year in a botany class taught by Professor

4
Due to the financial losses his family incurred with the failed eucalyptus enterprise, Cornell waited tables at the old
Claremont Inn (V. Cornell 126). Cornell also described being paid to give massages to football players, who apparently
didn’t believe in showering for two days before a game as it was thought at the time to tighten muscles (UCLA Oral History
49).
18
Charles Fuller Baker, who would prove to be one of the most influential characters in
Cornell’s life.

Professor Baker was a biologist and a rural doctor of the frontier days, “knowing a little
about very many things and not confining his interests exclusively to specialized fragments
of the field into which he channeled his major effort” (R. Cornell, “How One Landscape
Architect” 1). Although Baker was principally a botanist, specialization in this field had not
yet been fully articulated. Nevertheless, he was described as a man with big visions, joyful
zeal, and bulldog determination (Crawford 478). Cornell also commented (“How One
Landscape Architect” 1-2):
Oddly enough there were college students at the turn of the century who felt that
they knew more than the faculty members and consequently were in a position to
criticize them, their methods of teaching and choice of prescribed studies. The
individual and collective asininities of faculty and teaching methods were matters of
free discussion within such student groups which for the most parts were made up
of quite intelligent and energetic youngsters who had fine potential if it could be
properly channeled. Such lads seemed to be food and drink for Professor Baker
who had the ability to interest them in projects which absorbed their interests and
energies and caused them to forget their own brilliance and the faculty stupidity.

As a “man-maker”, Baker’s craft was to find talent and develop it (UCLA Oral History 7).
Cornell’s association with this man “bent the twig”
5
(R. Cornell, “How One Landscape
Architect” 1-2).

Professor Baker soon encouraged Cornell to begin extra curricular work, gathering plants to
begin his own private herbarium. In summer school of 1910, Cornell worked in Pomona

5
In his writing, Cornell referred several times to the phrase “…as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined”. An unknown
author (perhaps Vera Cornell) also used this phrase as a metaphor to describe the influential circumstances of Theodore
Payne, who would later become an important part of Cornell’s life and career (Untitled Notes 4-5). In this description,
Cornell used this phrase to describe how Payne’s mother was a student of botany and imbued the same passion in her son.
Payne thus started his own small garden, collected wildflowers, and put them in little packets for his friends.
19
creating 900 pressed specimen sheets of plants that held potential for economic value
(UCLA Oral History 39). Cornell was tasked with finding, pressing, mounting, identifying,
and labeling various plant specimens. Working everywhere between Los Angeles, Santa
Barbara
6
, and other vicinities, Cornell referred to these as his “nomadic days” (R. Cornell,
“How One Landscape Architect 9). This work became a foundational aspect of Cornell’s
career, helping him build horticultural and botanical knowledge, as well as an understanding
of regional identity in Southern California.

Professor Baker then channeled Cornell’s efforts into sketching front yards and making little
“plot plans” with plant identifications (UCLA Oral History 39). The plans that Cornell
initially created appeared similar to rough as-built survey work and plant documentation, but
Baker soon guided Cornell into creating suggested landscape plans, as well. Though Baker
knew little of landscape gardening, he supported Cornell along a path of independent study
in the little known field of “landscape architecture”. Cornell remarked (“How One
Landscape Architect” 4):
…with weather-beaten plains of the Midwest, redolence of corral dust still in his
hair, and the memory of horses tormenting his soul, this special work had little
meaning to (the young man) at first although it gradually emerged into a nebulous
form that began to take conscious and definite shape in his thought…these special
interests did relate, one to another, and presented very absorbing occupations to one
long accustomed to outdoor activity and its “lone ranger” attitudes.

6
Wilson Popenoe also came to study under Professor Baker in 1910 and became a lifelong acquaintance of Cornell (R.
Cornell, “How One Landscape Architect” 8-9). Popenoe and Cornell took many field trips to build their herbarium, often
stopping in Santa Barbara, where they would call on the Italian Dr. Emanuele Orazio Fenzi, known to his American
associates as Dr. Francesco Franceschi (Padilla 150-156). Dr. Franceschi’s influence was widespread in California, as he
introduced more plants into the state in his lifetime than any other individual or firm and was a prolific writer that brought
worldwide attention to the splendors of Southern California. After Popenoe and Cornell would complete a long, hot walk
with heavy photography equipment to his home in the mission hills, Dr. Franceschi would insist that the city water was
dangerous to drink. He would sterilize the water with a spoonful of red wine, which colored it to a pale pink (R. Cornell,
“How One Landscape Architect” 8-9).
20
Landscape architecture made sense to Cornell, given his fondness and scholarship in regards
to nature and his surroundings. Professor Baker further introduced Cornell to the idea of
taking on graduate studies in Harvard’s landscape architecture program to complement and
expand the horticultural studies he was undertaking at Pomona. Without much
contemplation or question, Cornell accepted this future path to Harvard in the back of his
mind and simply “saw no other direction to go” (R. Cornell, “How One Landscape
Architect” 4).

As he began to explore landscape architecture, however, Cornell took on another lifelong
interest: photography. Cornell initially used photography as an academic tool to create the
plans of the small yards, but he soon found it to also be an artistic outlet. Upon taking one
good exposure of a tiny storm bridge over a stream in Ganesha Park in Pomona, he
described that it was “just like taking a vitamin pill; it (was) a complex…and it stirred (him)
up” (UCLA Oral History 120). He later had a similar clairvoyant experience at Half Dome
in Yosemite National Park. Cornell spent the rest of his life taking photos
7
, often going out
of his way to get the perfect shot at precisely the right moment.

Professor Baker encouraged Cornell to publish and Cornell’s first article
8
appeared in the
Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany as Applied to Subtropical Horticulture in 1911. As the
only journal of its kind, Baker saw the need to disseminate practical knowledge concerning

7
Through the course of his life, Cornell’s photos were well-published and appeared in both his own book, Conspicuous
California Plants, as well as in Winifred Starr Dobyns’ book, California Gardens. He later took an interest in snapping portraits
of some of the “old horticulturalists”, such as Theodore Payne, “Manny” Meyberg, William Hertrich, Edward Howard,
Fred Howard, H.M. Butterfield, and John Armstrong (UCLA Oral History 122).

8
See Cornell, R.D. “Plans and Plants for Small Places.” Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany as Applied to Subtropical
Horticulture. 1.2 (May 1911): 98-103. Print.
21
the subtropical trees, plants, and fruit crops that were or might have been useful on the
Pacific Coast (Crawford 478-479). California was considered a subtropical region and was
critically emerging in the economy of the world. Dr. David Crawford, Professor of Botany
in Pomona College, wrote (478-479):
More people are going south to engage in the more profitable tropical agriculture
and more money is being thrown into its development. More schools and colleges
are springing up to teach the science and practice of this branch of agriculture. All
over the world it is becoming of vast importance.
9

In totality, the work in this journal serves as a priceless snapshot into what the world’s
leading biologists were thinking about the economics of botany, and more specifically, about
how horticultural and agricultural techniques worked in Southern California at the time. The
Journal contained frequent contributions by Professor Baker, Cornell, Wilson Popenoe, W.J.
Young, Dr. Franceschi, A.R. Davis, and others. Topics ranged from botanic gardens and
avenue planting to fruit tree propagation and pests.

Nearly ten articles written by Ralph Cornell were published in the Journal of Economic Botany
during his college career. His work included several installations of “Plans and Plants for
Small Places”, as well as articles entitled “The Culture of Citrus Fruits, Dates, and Other
Crops in the Coachella, Imperial, and Yuma Districts”, “The Small City Park as a Great
Asset”, “The Propagation of the Date”, “California Street Trees”, and, most importantly for
this study, “Wanted: A Genuine Southern California Park”. Cornell, humbly, believed that
his contributions were not for the edification of the reader, but rather “for the benefit of the
boy” (Cornell) whom Professor Baker encouraged (R. Cornell, “How One Landscape
Architect” 3).

9
The Journal of Economic Botany was published only between the years of 1911-1913. Crawford’s closing statements in
the book, as described here, however, were intended to be the seed for a new broader publication.
22

Critical Introductions
Professor Baker made many significant introductions for Cornell in his time at Pomona
College, one having been particularly noteworthy. Baker first introduced Cornell to
Theodore Payne in 1910, whom Cornell found asleep with his head resting on his arms on a
small desk in his Main Street nursery located just next door to one of Los Angeles’ most
active burlesque theaters at the time (R. Cornell, “How One Landscape Architect” 5-6).
Cornell was startled by this introduction, but soon realized that this was a common antidote
to the long and hard hours of botanical work that filled Payne’s days. Payne was an
Englishman who had taken a keen interest in the native plants of California, “…(so) that at
least small vestiges of the onetime California might indicate to future generations something
of that which had been in the beginning” (R. Cornell, “Theodore Payne Reminiscences” 1-
2). Payne had worked his way up through the Germain Seed Company and opened his own
seed and plant store that served as the main U.S. purchasing headquarters of eucalyptus
seeds
10
, which were still in high commercial demand at the time Cornell first met him (Payne,
“Part 1” 6-7). Though the eucalyptus seed trade was a lucrative endeavor, the “heart and
soul of the establishment” was nurtured by wildflower seeds and native trees and shrubs (R.
Cornell, “Theodore Payne Reminiscences” 2). With the rapidly disappearing wildflowers in
his beloved landscape, he devoted his life to promoting the protection and ornamental use
of California natives. Payne went on to work on the native gardens at the San Diego
Exposition, the estate of Madame Helena Modjeska (called “Arden”), Rancho Santa Ana
Botanical Garden, and Exposition Park near the University of Southern California (Bevil,

10
The volume of Payne’s eucalyptus endeavors was so great that, in one season, Payne collected about 1500 pounds of
seeds, which were shipped on large mail order trade (Payne, “Part 1” 7).
23
Lodge 17-19; Padilla 296; Payne “Part 1” and “Part 2”; Untitled Notes 7-9). As Cornell’s first
business partner and lifelong friend, it would seem that Payne’s views on native plants
impressed highly upon Cornell.

Professor Baker introduced Cornell to several other key plantsman, as well: Judge Silent of
Glendora, a Los Angeles Park Commissioner whose ventures in law, real estate, and the
railroad industry afforded lavish horticultural experimentation at his ranch home by Greene
& Greene Architects; Ernest Braunton, a long-time nurseryman and horticultural writer for
the Los Angeles Times; Frank Shearer, superintendent of Los Angeles City Parks who had
been educated at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and who provided mentoring and
escorted Cornell on tours of Griffith Park; Dr. Franceschi of Italy who was devoting his
time in Santa Barbara to the introduction of exotic plants; and George Wharton James, a
writer-historian and real estate promoter with horticultural interests in the desert climate of
the Colorado River Basin (R. Cornell, “How One Landscape Architect” 5-6; Padilla 296). In
several instances, these associates contacted Professor Baker with small projects in mind –
Baker often directed them to Cornell (R. Cornell, “How One Landscape Architect” 5-6).
11

Every one of these introductions proved fruitful in Cornell’s career, awakening further
horticultural curiosity and leading him along a path in regional matters of interest.

A Desert Affair
Fostered again by Professor Baker, Cornell came to know the desert on “agricultural safari”
in association with an assessment commissioned by George Wharton James of the

11
The evolution of Cornell’s work and research is evidenced in published articles of the Journal of Economic Botany, described
above.
24
Chuckawalla & Palo Verde Irrigation Association in Los Angeles (R. Cornell, “How One
Landscape Architect” 6). Cornell was hired to write a report
12
on the existing agricultural
development in the Coachella and Imperial Valleys in the summer of 1911 (R. Cornell,
“How One Landscape Architect” 6):
It was a hot baptism of fire, locally accomplished by rental of livery teams and
buggies by which I slogged through temperature up to 115 degrees F and choking
clouds of diatomaceous dust tossed into the air by horses hooves and buggy wheels.

Cornell slept at the Coffman’s famous Desert Inn, which at the time was nothing more than
one small frame cottage and several tent-houses without any air conditioning (V. Cornell
127). To bathe, he had to wait until after dark and stand under the water tank and pull the
rope. To sleep, it was if he had to lay in an oven. Nevertheless, the arid grandeur of the
desert affected his soul. He began to “see” the distinct qualities of this landscape. He began
to feel the essence of what it was like to be in Southern California and returned throughout
his life to study and photograph the plants in this climate. Cornell often used features and
plants from the desert landscape in his later work, as evidenced by his design of the Desert
Art Galleries of Mrs. Bettye K. Cree and the desert garden incorporated in the strip park
called Beverly Gardens in Beverly Hills, which is the later subject for case study in this thesis.

His First “Break”
Despite warnings that he would likely never return, Cornell took a year’s leave from Pomona
College in the winter of 1911-1912 to improve his position in both experience and finance
(R. Cornell, “How One Landscape Architect” 6-8; V. Cornell 127-128). As another project
call came in to his mentor Professor Baker, Cornell received his first larger scale landscape

12
See Cornell, R.D. “The Culture of Citrus Fruits, Dates, and Other Crops in the Coachella, Imperial and Yuma Districts.”
Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany as Applied to Subtropical Horticulture. 2.3 (Sept. 1912): 337-341. Print.
25
job to select, manage, and supervise street tree planting in the new Freemont Place
subdivision, intended for a collection of mansions in a park-like setting in Mid-City along
Wilshire Boulevard. At this time, “Wilshire Boulevard was but a one-lane track across adobe
land that grew wild mustard as high as a horse’s back” (R. Cornell, “How One Landscape
Architect 7). Cornell selected trees from Jack Reeves at the newly opened Beverly Hills
Nursery
13
and recruited laborers from Skid Row at a high wage of $4 per day
14
. All labor was
manual and any water used for planting was hauled in tank wagons. Though he later
reminisced that this commission was not very creative, this job exposed him to the landscape
profession in Los Angeles, and particularly, made introductions in the area that was to
become Beverly Hills. Perhaps this job also helped Cornell to consider how he could play a
more effective role in the creative development of places and promoting “genuine”
character, as a landscape architect.

Propagation of the Date
Cornell spent the following summers
15
in the sweltering heat of the desert, also playing an
integral role in establishing the successful date culture that emerged in Southern California in
the second decade of the 19
th
Century (qtd. by V. Cornell 127):
The United States government had imported some date offshoots, set up stations
and experimented with this fascinating plant. …Their work stimulated private
interests and some small date plantings were made…however, it was in 1913 that

13
See Case Study on Beverly Gardens, where this landscape is discussed in much further detail. Cornell notes that, after
WWII, well known landscape architects such as Edward Huntsman-Trout, former Harvard classmate and lifelong friend,
and Ray Page operated at the location of the Beverly Hills Nursery for a number of years (“How One Landscape Architect”
7).

14
Cornell received $5 per day as “top banana” (R. Cornell, “How One Landscape Architect” 7-8).

15
It seems that Cornell may have worked several summers for the Popenoe family endeavors in Altadena and the desert.
See R. Cornell, “Propagation of the Date” 418-423 and R. Cornell, “How One Landscape Architect” 9 and 45.

26
Paul and Wilson Popenoe (sons of F.O. Popenoe of the West India Gardens in
Altadena) imported some 13,000 date offshoots from Arabia. Their nursery was
located two miles below Thermal – two long, hot dusty miles along a road that was
no more than two parallel tracks through desert sands.

Cornell had worked on and off with Wilson Popenoe
16
, energetic friend and fellow Pomona
College classmate, and his family at West India Gardens in Altadena (R. Cornell, “How One
Landscape Architect” 45). Thus, Cornell naturally transitioned to their new nursery
endeavors in the town of Thermal, near Palm Springs (R. Cornell, “How One Landscape
Architect” 9). The United States Department of Agriculture had first imported the date
palm 25 years prior, but its success was severely limited due to the intense heat required in
the growth process (R. Cornell, “Propagation of the Date” 418-423). The government had
also found that it was necessary to import off-shoots from distant locations, as propagation
attempted from seed yielded male palms that didn’t bear fruit and were of little value.
However, brothers Wilson and Paul Popenoe made the effort to collect off-shoots from
Algiers, Syria, and the Persian Gulf (R. Cornell, “How One Landscape Architect 9). As the
first supplier of commercial stock, Cornell toiled in “the real beginning of what became the
Coachella Valley’s profitable date industry”, demonstrating both a clear understanding of
horticulture and native ecology of Southern California (V. Cornell 127). More importantly,
like his earlier endeavors in the desert, Cornell’s work with the Popenoe family highlighted
the regional promise of the day and advanced the scientific development of “economic
botany” that was surfacing at Pomona College, as championed by Professor Charles Baker
(Cook and Baker 1-2).

16
Cornell and Wilson Popenoe seemed to be close friends during his time at Pomona College. They both seemed to be
young and full of curiosity for subtropical plant life. Cornell recalled that they worked, studied, and traveled to places like
“the jungles of tropical America” together (“How One Landscape Architect” 9).

27

Opportunity in a Seed
Professor Baker left Pomona College in the summer of 1912 to pursue a position as
Professor of Agronomy in the College of Agriculture at the University of the Philippines,
where he spent the rest of his life (Crawford 478-479). Contrary to warnings that he would
not finish school, Cornell returned to Pomona College to complete his program without
Baker’s direction (R. Cornell, “How One Landscape Architect” 8-9). Cornell recalled that
this was the time
17
when the “alligator pears” were just being popularized for local trade
(UCLA Oral History 9-10; R. Cornell, “How One Landscape Architect” 9). Cornell’s
interest in this fruit tree prompted him to import 1,000 seeds of what was to become known
popularly as the avocado.

Wilson Popenoe, Cornell’s fellow student and friend at Pomona College, outlined the
development of the avocado industry in the Journal of Economic Botany. Here, he described the
adaptability of this fruit to the ideal climate of Southern California and the immense
potential for the avocado as a future food supply (Popenoe 135). He quoted Parker Earle,
horticulturalist and former President of the American Pomological Society, as saying (135):
We cannot help wondering, as we look ahead for a hundred years, how people will
live – what they will eat – when there are four hundred million to be fed out of the
land that now supports one hundred million. With this great destiny of population,
will there be room for producing much animal food in that time? Will it not become
a necessity of existence to utilize all of the land in a way that will yield the greatest
tonnage of human food?

17
When Cornell actually began importing seeds seems somewhat ambiguous. Cornell’s wife refers to 1910 (V. Cornell
128) and Cornell describes his avocado endeavors in association with a horticultural plant propagation class that Baker
taught, which clearly would have been prior to Baker’s departure in 1912 (UCLA Oral History 9-10). However, Cornell
also vividly links Baker’s departure to the time when he began taking interest in the avocado seeds (post-1912), though he
does make statements such as “…I believe this was (about the time)” in this same paper (“How One Landscape Architect”
9). In any case, it seems that Cornell poured his energies into this endeavor towards the end of his undergraduate degree.

28

Given the high nutritive value of avocadoes, horticulturalists were aiming to yield the
greatest quantities of food from a minimum area of land. With the onset of World War I,
America was planting Victory Gardens on private properties and in public parks, in an effort
to develop a self-sustaining food supply.
18

Cornell began propagating the avocado and took on Forest Hutchison as a partner in
business (UCLA Oral History 9-10). Hutchison was the grounds superintendent at Pomona
College and cared for the avocado seedlings whenever Cornell would take on other projects
outside of Pomona. Eventually, Cornell and Hutchison sold this enterprise for $2,200.
Upon graduating Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude at Pomona College, Cornell took
his half of the earnings from the sale to begin studies at Harvard University, as Professor
Baker had earlier encouraged. The rewards of Cornell’s avocado endeavor proved far-
reaching in facilitating his introduction to a completely different side of the landscape
architecture profession on the East Coast.

Graduate Design Studies at Harvard
As the first and most distinguished academic landscape architecture program in the world,
the Harvard School of Landscape Architecture
19
played a critical role in the practice and
education of landscape professionals. In addition to his earnings from the propagation of

18
Cornell’s associates were also compelled with this idea. Following the war, Payne developed the “Victory Tomato”,
which he raised by dry-farming methods in the South Los Angeles and sold to local canners (R. Cornell, “Theodore Payne
Reminiscences” 6).

19
The Department of Landscape Architecture program is now structured within the Harvard University Graduate School
of Design (“The GSD”).
29
the avocado, Cornell believed that the letter of recommendation that Baker wrote led him to
be awarded a one-year tuition scholarship for his studies at Harvard, which began in the fall
semester of 1914 (UCLA Oral History 10-15).

Cornell worked under the head of the department, Professor James Sturgis Prey, with chief
instructors Henry Vincent Hubbard and Bremer Pond (UCLA Oral History 10-11).
20
The
landscape architecture instruction was all-inclusive and graphics were fundamental.
21

Students were trained in surveying, topographic engineering, plotting, perspective
diagramming, and planning. Cornell’s second wife, Vera, reiterated that graphic
representation and free-hand drawing were compulsory at Harvard; in these exercises,
Cornell learned to model the earth’s surface (128). As opposed to merely “copying” former
design interventions, Harvard was also teaching students to think a little more broadly, at
least theoretically (UCLA Oral History 13). The students conducted regular site visits to the
Lars Anderson estate
22
and took on the idea of “city planning” in Cornell’s final year,
stressing the concepts of functionality in intended purpose, environmental appropriateness,
and beautification (UCLA Oral History 15).

20
Cornell recalled that Hubbard wrote a well-read classic book on landscape design and Pond maintained three landscape
offices in Boston (UCLA Oral History 10-11).

21
Cornell noted that if you could not express yourself in words and writing, you would not be able to get your ideas across
in practice (UCLA Oral History 10-11).

22
It is interesting to note that the Lars Anderson estate, known as the Garden of Weld, was designed by Charles Platt in
1902 in Brookline, Massachusetts. Platt is known for his careful integration of exterior and interior space through the use
of architectonic garden components and strong vistas to provide visual and circulatory connections (Birnbaum and Karson
299). Cornell seems to employ similar ideas throughout his career: Pomona College, Beverly Gardens, UCLA, University of
Hawaii, etc. Curiously, Vera Cornell believed that, at Harvard, Cornell began to consider the sky as a basic element of
landscape design and a vital component of any composition (V. Cornell 128). However, George Hall, who later formed the
partnership Cook, Hall, and Cornell with Ralph Cornell, also worked in Platt’s office during his graduate studies at Harvard
and MIT, where he met Franklin Brett. Hall subsequently formed a partnership with Brett, who, further, had previously
worked in the offices of Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture.

30
Vera recalled that “perhaps the three most memorable years of his life were those three
wonderful and exciting years spent within the hallowed halls of Harvard” (V. Cornell 128).
Harvard was invaluable in providing Cornell with larger ideas about landscape and high
design, as well as introducing Cornell to a new world of landscape professionals, such as the
Olmsted family, who taught and were highly influential in the academic development of the
profession within the school. Not only did he learn the design skills essential to
communicate in a professional capacity, but he was also exposed to city planning concepts
that ultimately fostered a more holistic approach to his treatment of the cultural landscape.
Cornell discovered the role and interplay of nature within the cultural context of urban areas.

Rejecting the Gods
Cornell graduated from Harvard in March 1917. Much to the surprise of Frederick Law
Olmsted, Jr., Cornell turned down an offer at the Olmsted Brothers firm in favor of a
position at Harries and Hall in Toronto for $25 per week (UCLA Oral History 21). Cornell
recalled:
(The Olmsted brothers) were looked upon as little gods, and they were. They were
good, but I think they were aware of the fact that it was a privilege to work with
them. I might have been smarter if I had taken it, but they offered me ten dollars a
month less to go to (the Olmsted firm). This shows how your faculty can influence
you. Professor Prey, and I’ve thought since that it was perhaps with a little malice
aforethought, urged me to take the Toronto job. He told me afterwards that
Olmsted was very much surprised that I didn’t accept his offer. I really didn’t know
enough. I have never been one who could see my future clearly. I just have done a
job that came to me, and as best I could, and went from there.

Though he simply turned down the offer of employment from the Olmsted firm in
Brookline, the Olmsteds would weave a perpetual thread throughout Cornell’s career,
31
surfacing in subtle moments to reveal highly inter-related thought within a budding
landscape profession.

Cornell worked on rural landscaping and garden design in Toronto until December 1917,
noting that a majority of his effort was required to be devoted to septic tank design (UCLA
Oral History 21). True to spirit, Cornell believed this to be part of his critical foundation in
understanding how landscape systems worked, even if specific daily tasks were tedious.

Although he was not required to register for the draft as he lived outside of the United
States, Cornell felt a patriotic duty to enlist in the military during WWI (UCLA Oral History
22-23). He left during a great blizzard, heading west across northern Canada by train in
temperatures of 32 degrees below zero. Cornell was then stationed in France and Belgium,
where the entire country was “churned from shellfire” and reduced to “pile(s) of rubble”
(UCLA Oral History 22-23). Yet, Cornell never lost his passion for horticulture and
landscape architecture. He somehow made time to remain in contact with his associates and
satisfy his botanic curiosities by gathering some flaming, scarlet poppy seeds along the
roadside and sending them to his dear friend, Theodore Payne.
23
In a letter dated 11 August
1918, Cornell wrote, “We managed to get here without kissing any torpedoes along the way,
and without stopping any of Kaiser Bill’s bombs…” (“Letter to Mr. Payne” 1). He also
noted the “wildflowers galore” in the sunny countryside of France and his desire (and
inability at the time) to visit any of the botanic gardens or urban parks in Paris. Cornell

23
These seeds may still be found in UCLA Collection #1411, Box 83. A second postcard of a woman in what seemed to
be a bathing suit was found addressed to Theodore Payne, Seedsman South Main Street, asking ‘…how (does he) like ‘em
French?” (“Postcard to Theodore Payne, Seedsman” 1). This and several other clues were found to illustrate Cornell’s
friendly and humorous relationship with Payne, aside from horticultural interests.

32
directly experienced a new, foreign environment and the refined ideals of European
landscape design. Perhaps, here, Cornell began to consult the genius of place
24
and the
impression of native landscapes
25
and considered these concepts within the context of
Southern California. In 1919, following the War, Cornell returned to California to begin his
practice as the first landscape architect in Los Angeles.

In his landscape architecture practice, Cornell drew from all of the environments and
associations of his youth. He recognized his “transitional background from pioneer to a
more modern and contemporary era” (UCLA Oral History 1). He went from an
environment where “time was more or less measured by how far a horse could go in a day”
to designing the landscape infrastructure of a burgeoning metropolis (UCLA Oral History 1).
He had built a solid foundation, in both horticulture and economic botany at Pomona
College and design and city planning at Harvard, and was about to be set free in a landscape
of big dreams. Above all, Cornell always had a keen appreciation of the natural world and
our cultural constructs within it, having the innate ability to “see” the qualities that make a
landscape distinct. Within Cornell’s early work, we find several discerning concepts
regarding the laying out of public park space in a critical time of malleability within the
development of cities, advocacy surrounding the preservation of native plants and original
landscape, and the search to find what is authentic or “genuine” in the cultural landscapes of
Southern California. Two landscapes, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and Beverly

24
”Genius loci” and “genius of place” are often discussed in landscape architecture and other design related industries.
This phrase is first attributed to Epistle IV by English poet Alexander Pope, who seemingly prompted landscape designers
to, “Consult the genius of place in all”.

25
Irish landscape designer William Robinson swept off the rigidity of the Victorian era and ushered in the English country
gardening style. As the self-proclaimed “Wild Gardener”, Robinson had revolutionary views on the use of native plants,
the use of plants to sustain wildlife and ecology, and working with nature, rather than bending it to a temporary ideal
(Rhodus par. 1-8).

33
Gardens, surface as worthy of simultaneous consideration, providing the opportunity to
contextualize the cultural landscapes of Southern California and determine how they serve as
vital places worthy of preserving in our urban fabrics.
34
CASE STUDY 1 / TORREY PINES STATE NATURAL RESERVE

Figure 2. Undated photograph taken of Pinus torreyana, Torrey pine, by Ralph Cornell. Source: Ralph Dalton Cornell,
Conspicuous California Plants.
35

Straddling the Pacific coastline, bluffs, and salt-marsh of the northern City limits of San
Diego lies a small strip of land occupied by the majestic Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana) (see fig.
2). The local geology and relentless forces of sun, wind, and fog have shaped the stunted,
contorted habit of these rare Ice Age relics (Bevil, Lodge 8-9). With their extensive root
systems, the Torrey pines defiantly cling to remnants of soil on the exposed coastal slopes,
growing only 20-25 feet, at most. According to Ralph Cornell, it is here, at its native coastal
edge, that this tree with unusually dense cones and long, stout needles is most delightful in
character (Conspicuous California Plants 50-51). He claimed that it grew entirely different in its
limited extent further inland (and in domesticated environments) - at least double in size and
rather straight and common in open form. When Cornell was hired in 1922 to conduct a
report on Torrey Pines Park, he brought to light the “distinctiveness” of the original
landscape (“1922 Report” 11). He stressed the importance of preserving not only the tree in
all its rareness, but the entirety of this “place”, including the plant communities, geological
formations, and fragile ecosystems of the locale that made it unique to Southern California.
Cornell’s report ultimately led to the long-term preservation and establishment of Torrey
Pines State Natural Reserve, referred to as simply “Torrey Pines”.

Without physical record, native Kumeyaay people had utilized the coastal pine’s oily kernels
as sustenance since prehistoric times (Bevil, Lodge 10; Torrey Pines Assoc. par. 1-7). Early
Spanish explorers of the California coast referred to the Torrey Pines area as “Punto de Los
Arboles” or “Point of Trees”, using its location as a maritime landmark and a warning, in the
prevalent onset of fog, upon nearing the coast (Torrey Pines Assoc. par. 8). Positioned in
the “Soledad” or “Solitude” Valley, the trees were referred to as “Soledad Pines”, until
36
officially classified in 1850 by Dr. Charles Christopher Parry. Dr. Parry was a British-
American botanist and medical surgeon for the US-Mexico Boundary Survey who had
studied at Columbia University under the direction of John Torrey, for whom the pine was
named, and other foremost American botanists of the day (Fleming 5; Schneider par. 3).
26

Dr. Parry’s return to the site in 1883 prompted an historical and scientific report that he
presented to the San Diego Society of Natural History. This report urged protection of the
Torrey pine groves for the purposes of “scientific instruction and recreation”, as the trees
were threatened by early encroaching development (qtd. by Fleming 6). In 1885, the San
Diego County Board of Supervisors posted the first protective signage citing a $100 reward
for anyone found vandalizing the Torrey pines, “a remnant of a nearly extinct species” that
was, at the time, “not known to exist in any (other) part of the world” (Fleming 6). The only
other indigenous occurrence of this exceedingly rare species was recorded three years later,
175 miles to the northwest, on an exposed cliff on Santa Rosa Island off the coast of Santa
Barbara; however, these species were found to be more vigorous and densely foliated in the
damper, cooler climate (R. Cornell, Conspicuous California Plants 51; Fleming 7).

Despite suggestions from botanist J.G. Lemmon of the newly formed California State Board
of Forestry to mandate appropriate legislation to safeguard the Torrey pine, no protections
materialized (Torrey Pines Assoc. par. 12). In his “Second Biennial Report of 1887-1888”,
Lemmon predicted both increased immigration and threatened extermination of the tree. In

26
Parry was also associated with Asa Gray, a distinct student of Dr. Torrey for whom Gray’s Peak in Colorado was named,
and George Engelmann, founder of the Missouri Botanical Garden for whom several evergreen trees in Colorado were
named (Schneider par. 3).

37
line with earlier recommendations of Dr. Parry, he urged protection by the State (qtd. by
Fleming 7):
…Notwithstanding this happily untouched condition of these trees, with the influx
of immigration this lovely seaside area is destined to receive a large population, and
then these trees will be menaced with extermination at the hands of men, unless
steps are taken to protect them, as suggested in the closing paragraph of Dr. Parry’s
historical paper; or better they should be preserved by the State of California through
the effort of proper legislation.

As early as the 1870’s, San Diego began leasing pueblo lands
27
, including the area that
comprised Torrey Pines, for cattle and sheep grazing (Walsh 28; Torrey Pines Assoc. par.
13). As the most critical threat to the pines to date, the land was cleared – trees were cut and
hauled away for firewood, leaving the remaining land extremely susceptible to fire that often
swept the tract (Bevil, Lodge 10; Fleming 7). The 1880’s also marked the arrival of the
California Southern Railroad through the sleepy coastal community adjacent to Los
Penasquitos Creek marsh (Walsh 28). With its strategic location along the old coast road,
which was the only direct route from Los Angeles to San Diego at that time, Torrey Pines
emerged as a popular tourist destination: a place to picnic, gather seashells, hunt ducks,
collect oysters, and bet on horse racing at nearby Cordero (Walsh 28). Very few people
seemed to value the Torrey pine, as it had little to no commercial value. Its lumber was
found to be brittle and soft, quickly disintegrating upon falling to the ground (R. Cornell,
Conspicuous California Plants 52).

27
Due to early Spanish influence and the establishment of pueblos according to the Laws of the Indies, pueblo lots legally
defined the City of San Diego.

38
Then, a distinct cultural shift in values occurred. The condition of Torrey Pines prompted
Belle Angier, on botanical assignment in 1895 under the direction of Dr. Charles Sargent of
the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University
28
, to call upon “city father” George White
Marston, botanist Daniel Cleveland, and other active members of the San Diego Society of
Natural History in lobbying City Council to take distinct action to ensure perpetuation of the
pines (Torrey Pines Assoc. par. 14; Fleming 7). As a result, the City of San Diego set aside
four pueblo lots
29
comprised of 369 acres as a “free and public park” in 1899
30
, though no
provisions were made to specifically protect the tree (Fleming 8; Walsh 27). With some of
the finest stands of pines, native flora, and picturesque carved sandstone cliffs threatened by
commercial development, Marston and newspaper magnate E.W. Scripps were able to
interest his half-sister and philanthropist, Ellen Browning Scripps in the preservation of
Torrey Pines. She acquired portions of two more pueblo lots
31
between 1908 and 1912, with
the understanding that the City of San Diego would eventually reimburse her and take over
the lands
32
(Fleming 8; Walsh 30). Her lifelong association with Torrey Pines proved
ultimately vital to its existence.

28
It is interesting to note this correlation to Cornell’s studies at Harvard and the Arnold Arboretum that would take place
roughly a decade or so later. Phyllis Andersen noted, “…in the years between the Arboretum’s founding in 1872 and the
death in 1927 of its first director, Charles Sprague Sargent, the Arboretum was at the center of efforts to transform the
practice of landscape gardening into the profession of landscape architecture” and that, “…(its) initial involvement in the
education of landscape designers was spurred by the interests of Sargent himself” (Andersen 3).

29
Ordinance 648 was passed on 10 August 1899, setting aside Pueblo Lots 1332, 1333, 1336, and 1337 as a public park
(Fleming 8).

30
Torrey Pines became the third public park in the City of San Diego. Plaza de Pantoja (commonly known as F Street
Park) and City Park (later renamed Balboa Park) were established in 1850 and 1868, respectively (Walsh 68).

31
Miss Scripps purchased Pueblo Lot 1338 in June 1908, later acquiring portions of Pueblo Lot 1339 in 1911 and 1912
(Fleming 8).

32
This never actually materialized.

39
As a retired newspaper baroness, Ellen Scripps was mostly self-made, living simply, yet
practicing progressive politics and devoting herself to causes such as women’s rights and
suffrage, protection of domestic servants and farm laborers, child welfare, public schooling
and libraries, conservation and parks (Walsh 30-31). Like Marston, she shared the common
attitude of America’s wealthy philanthropists of the time, believing in the “Gospel of
Wealth”
33
, a quest for better education, health, citizenship, recreation, and self-improvement,
“in which people could help themselves” (qtd. in Bevil, Lodge 9-13). As opposed to blind
charity, Scripps sought to “create an environment in which people could become more
worthy participants in the community of life”, funding numerous academic institutions,
zoological gardens, research institutions, hospitals, natural history societies, and other private
and public organizations in the San Diego area (qtd. in Bevil, Lodge 11; Walsh 31).

Just after the turn of the century, San Diego was emerging as an important port city with a
protected bay and, after 1914, the first American stop north of the Panama Canal (Walsh
26). As with all of Southern California, the City had much to offer in terms of a warm,
moderate climate, pristine beauty, and great opportunity in an expansive, largely unexplored
landscape. San Diego thus attracted well-educated, progressive-minded businesspersons and
professionals, devoted to municipal reform, science, education, conservation, and the
development of cultural institutions and parks, supporting a newfound middle-class
prosperity and civic vitality (Walsh 26-27). With an expanding population and the
anticipation of civic greatness, San Diego turned a keen eye towards the future.

33
The “Gospel of Wealth” was initiated by Andrew Carnegies’ 1889 essay entitled “Wealth”, describing a moral and
religious duty to help the “worthy poor” as a cornerstone of social enlightenment (Bevil, Lodge 12).

40
Commissioned by the San Diego Society of Natural History and the San Diego Floral
Association in 1916, botanists Ralph Sumner and Guy Fleming conducted further studies in
Torrey Pines (Torrey Pines Assoc. par. 16). Their findings included concern of further
degradation and lack of control over camping and tourist activity throughout the park
(Fleming 8). Along with the property that she had recently acquired, Ellen Scripps
consequently championed the collaboration with City-owned parklands to create “Torrey
Pines Preserve”, which as a whole became a reserve for the protection of the Torrey pine
(Fleming 8-9).

With the support of the City Park Commission, Ellen Scripps appointed botanist Guy
Fleming as first park custodian. Like Ralph Cornell, Fleming had migrated in his youth with
his family from Nebraska to the West coast and felt a passionate interest in nature and
plants. Fleming settled in Oregon before being drawn to the utopian agrarian colony of
Little Landers at San Ysidro on the Mexican Border (Bevil, Lodge 13). He later rose from
nurseryman to landscape foreman during the planning and construction of the 1915
Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park. Fleming worked directly with Kate Sessions,
Theodore Payne, and other important regional plantsmen, landscape architects, and city
planners in this endeavor (Walsh 33). Fleming ultimately dedicated his life to the
preservation and development of Southern California’s natural and historical resources,
particularly those at Torrey Pines, later becoming District Superintendent for the State Park
System (Bevil, Lodge 13; Torrey Pines Assoc. par. 17).
41

Figure 3. Undated watercolor of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve by Ralph Cornell. Source: UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections.

Ensuring longevity of the park space she had cultivated, Ellen Scripps retained Ralph Cornell
in 1922 to draft a long-term management plan for Torrey Pines (Torrey Pines Assoc. par.
18). Known as an “authority on park planning” (Fleming 9), Cornell had worked indirectly
with George Marston at Pomona College, which was Cornell’s first commission
34
upon
opening his landscape architecture practice in 1919 (V. Cornell 129). Marston later became a
lifelong associate and friend, undoubtedly recommending that Cornell draft the master plan

34
Cornell believed he secured this commission at Pomona because he was the only practicing landscape architect to ever
have graduated from Pomona College, demonstrating his humble demeanor (UCLA Oral History 51-54). He considered
the landscapes at Pomona College to exist within the intellectual plane, where environment contributed to the
“development of capacities”, which spoke to college President James Blaisdell’s vision of a college in a garden (UCLA Oral
History 15-16, 51-54). Cornell was employed at Pomona College for 23 years on annual retainership starting in 1919, with
later sporadic commissions (UCLA Oral History 51-54). Although landscape construction here was just beginning when
Cornell met Ellen Scripps at Torrey Pines, Cornell’s work at Pomona College became one of his most distinguished
designs, employing a large quadrangle and lawn, subtle symmetries, a series of walkways, and extended vistas with carefully
articulated moments of “terminus” (UCLA Oral History 54-58).

42
for Ellen Scripps (V. Cornell 129). From 1919 to 1924, Cornell practiced in partnership with
pioneering native plant expert Theodore Payne, who previously worked at the San Diego
Exposition and collaborated in Cornell’s work at Torrey Pines (Bevil, Lodge 18). Together,
Cornell and Payne were devoted to protecting the rapidly disappearing native plants and
original landscapes of Southern California for future generations, which is evidenced by the
overriding concept of Cornell’s report (see fig. 3 for Cornell’s more vivid interpretation via
watercolor of Torrey Pines).

Cornell’s plan for Torrey Pines was unprecedented, calling for “RESTRAINT” in a three-
part plan that outlined restrictions against altering the original landscape, introducing non-
indigenous plants and features, or over-cultivating the Torrey pine to the exclusion of open
spaces (Torrey Pines Assoc. par. 18). In it, Cornell stated (“1922 Report” 11-12):
…(The) impression that stands out eminently above all others…is the distinctiveness
of this one spot…among the natural phenomena…(deserving of a) proud place
among our national monuments to nature’s ability as a temperamental artist who
now and then exceeds even her own hopes in the creation of something unusually
attractive. Torrey Pines is not a place of typical scenery; it is not representative of
the primitive, natural landscape of San Diego County, or of any other place in the
world. It is itself, alone, unimitated…

…If Torrey Pines is to be preserved and held in trust for future
generations…and…escape the commonplace appearance, the exploitations and the
encroachments that become the heritage of so many public lands, it must be very
zealously guarded. …one cannot too loudly state nor too often repeat the slogan of
“RESTRAINT.” …Do not permit the love of plants and the zeal of the collector to
make this into a botanical garden or plant museum which will leave no semblance to
the original landscape. Do not introduce features nor plants foreign to the spirit and
feeling of this area as it now exists. Do not permit acts of forestation to clothe the
slopes densely with pines to the exclusion and concealment of the open spaces.
…Remember that Torrey Pines’ fame was won without man’s creative aid and that
preservation rather than change should be sought.

43
Cornell went on to suggest that the east canyon bottom be kept free and open, so as not to
alter its general form, planting species only similar in quality, size, and appearance (“1922
Report” 12). In general, he recommended that pine plantings not be dense, but planted in
their natural cadence. Gradual, thoughtful forestation was stressed for the windward slopes,
“with an eye for the picturesque, as…well exemplified [at the time]” (13). Cornell further
promoted both a natural aesthetic and ecological function, imploring preservation of the
salt-marsh, so as not to upset the natural setting and converting “the beautiful into the ugly”,
clearly marking his disdain for uninhibited development (13). For the purpose of beauty and
interest, he also proposed annual wildflowers and herbaceous perennials of the native
habitat, in some places allowing for the cautious removal of shrubs for flowers, which would
“serve as decoration, not as a motif to the picture we seek at Torrey Pines…(where) other
spots are known for their wild flowers alone, for they have naught else” (14). A nursery was
also described in this plan: a small lath house, composed of a few cold frames, potting soil,
and a water supply to care for and “economically” propagate plants within the park to assure
their age and vigor (14). Again, he stressed growing only the materials needed for the
planned development of the park and planting only what was needed, not merely planting
because the plant had become too mature for the pot (14-15).

Cornell went on to note that human use would intensify, but the goal was “to at once
conserve and make available the natural beauties of this wonder spot” (“1922 Report” 15).
He argued for the development of a trail system that would invite and confine pedestrian
traffic. “Let Torrey Pines Park be a monument to all that is characteristically beautiful, let its
present feeling be preserved, and leave the extraneous, outside things to other uses” (15).
44

It is curious to note that in their repeated associations at Torrey Pines, however, Fleming’s
philosophies on the park’s management, as Superintendent, diverged from those of Cornell
(Smith 11 Feb. 2010). Fleming’s vision was to create a recreational park and regional botanic
garden, keen on introducing other plants native to California, so that “representatives of
every tree, shrub, and woody plant within a hundred miles radius of San Diego might find a
refuge here, in this, the last resting place of an ancient forest” (qtd. by Walsh 36). He was a
proponent of such grand ideas as a nursery, reservoir, botanical museum, library, research
lab, outdoor theater, roads to viewpoints, and a park lodge (Walsh 36). Cornell was clearly
more interested in preserving the landscape of Torrey Pines in situ, arguing against the
introduction of foreign plant material and overplanting. However, it is also curious that
Cornell advocated for establishing the “apparently indigenous” “ice plant” (Carpobrotus spp.)
and “Australian Salt bush” (Atriplex semibaccata) as erosion control throughout the park
(“1922 Report” 13). The saltbush was already growing in the park at the time and was
thought by Cornell to be “more at home there than some of the natives” (“1922 Report”
13). He went on to describe the saltbush as attractive and “in no way objectionable” (“1922
Report” 13). Although the devastating effects of these non-native, invasive species are
widely understood now, it is believed that perhaps taxonomists of the time thought these
species to be native (Smith 11 Feb. 2010). In any case, the park never became a botanical
showcase. Though Fleming’s endorsement of Cornell’s long-term plan is open to
interpretation, as no written correspondence between the two men has yet surfaced, both
gentlemen had tremendous respect and admiration for park champion, Ellen Scripps (Walsh
39). Scripps commended the views expressed by Cornell and the idea of preserving the
45
original landscape has been strictly pursued (Trustees of the Ellen Browning Scripps
Foundation 4). Moreover, the united efforts of Scripps, Fleming, and Cornell represented a
new and innovative direction in the management of natural habitats and native plants (Walsh
27).

Figure 4. Historical postcard of Torrey Pines Lodge. Source: San Diego Historical Society.

As Fleming’s dreams materialized, Cornell was consulted again in 1922 in respect to the
placement and construction of the Torrey Pines Lodge (Torrey Pines Assoc. par. 19). The
lodge (see fig. 4) was funded by Ellen Scripps and designed by noted architects Richard
Requa and H.L. Jackson, who had been involved with the design of the 1915 Panama-
California Exposition. It was constructed of adobe with the help of John Byers of Santa
Monica. With the influence of Cornell and his colleague Theodore Payne, Fleming agreed
that the lodge must not compromise the preserve’s aesthetic value for the sake of public
46
convenience, nor be at the expense of native plants or the surrounding environment. The
landscape plan for the lodge and parking area (see fig. 5) called for the strict use of flora
indigenous to the vicinity, picnic tables on a “natural terrace”, a “scenic walk”, and a “rustic
fence along top of canyon wall” (qtd. by Walsh 38). The careful recommendations of
Cornell and Payne resulted in a harmonious transition between lodge surroundings and the
natural environment (Bevil, Lodge 9, 17, and 19). Upon completion in 1923, the lodge served
as a refectory and welcome center for motorists traveling through the site. Its outdoor
dining terrace subsequently gained popularity as a stopping point for tour buses and Sunday
drives, as well as for those undertaking the long journey between Los Angeles and San Diego
(Bevil, Lodge 17; Torrey Pines Assoc. par. 20). The lodge was listed on the National Register
of Historic Places in 1998
35
; this document recognizes it as a fine example of the Territorial
Revival style
36
and highlights its pioneering role in early road development and tourism in
San Diego, due to its strategic development along the Torrey Pines Park Road (Bevil, Lodge
9).

35
NRHP #1998000699 was listed on 18 Jun. 1998 (Bevil, Lodge 1-55).

36
Territorial Revival is a late variant of Pueblo Revival Style. Developed in New Mexico in the early 1920’s, it was a fusion
of Native American, Spanish Colonial, and Anglo-American construction techniques and architectural features, influenced
by the historic Anglo-Hispanic haciendas or casas rancheras (Bevil, Lodge 9). Architectural historian David Gebhard has
argued that the 1915 Panama-California Exposition played a role in the American acceptance of Mediterranean, Spanish
Colonial, and Southwestern indigenous Pueblo architecture as inspiration for attributes of “modern” architecture (Bevil,
Lodge 24).

47

Figure 5. 1922 Preliminary Plot Plan for Torrey Pines Park by Cornell & Payne. Source: Ellen Browning Scripps Papers,
Ella Strong Denison Library, Scripps College, as found in “Preserving “Nature’s Artistry”: Torrey Pines During Its
Formative Years as a City and State Park” by Victor Walsh.

Fleming, as Park Superintendent, continued to further expand the park. With the support of
local civic groups and the City Park Commission in 1924, the City Council dedicated more
pueblo lands south of the existing park and encompassing the northern estuary extending to
the railway. This increased the park size to nearly 1,000 acres comprised of cliffs, canyons,
and mesas and three miles of sea frontage
37
(Torrey Pines Assoc. par. 21).

In 1926-1927, Ellen Scripps funded the construction of a house at Torrey Pines that Fleming
built for his family, facilitating the expansion of his conservation activities and his continued
supervisory role at the park (Walsh 46; Bevil, Lodge 14). The home instrumentally served as

37
Ordinance 7029 was dated 14 Jul. 1924, and included pueblo lots 1324-1326, 1330, 1331. 1334, 1340, and remaining
portions of lots 1332, 1333, and 1336 (Fleming 9; Walsh 41).

48
the park headquarters and later the office of the District Headquarters of the newly formed
Southern District of California State Parks. From here, Fleming spearheaded the acquisition
of at least twenty park spaces south of Monterey and east to the Colorado River and served
as the liaison with the Federal government’s administration of six Civilian Conservation
Camps (Walsh 46; Bevil, Lodge 14-15). Torrey Pines thus became a key international staging
area for botanical exploration and horticultural experimentation
38
, hosting the “leading
thinkers of the day” and serving to expand the state park system throughout Southern
California (Walsh 46). Quoting State Park Historian, Victor Walsh, “Torrey Pines took on
an importance that transcended its physical boundaries” (46).

At the Park’s infancy, the Scripps siblings had stepped in to increase public accessibility and
pave the steep grades and curves of the park road. It was praised as “a boulevard to the
pines, one of the most attractive scenic drives in the country” and represented the highest
form of American highway road building at the time (Bevil, Park Road 11 and 13). The park
road became a symbol of the cultural shift that occurred with the widespread advent of the
automobile – the park was no longer just for the enjoyment of the wealthy, but became
widely accessible to the middle-class. Serving as the “Gateway to San Diego”, this route
evolved from a dirt path and the only connection between Los Angeles and San Diego, to a
paved surface whose completion coincided with the 1915 opening of the Panama-California
Exposition, and it was finally abandoned in favor of the improved coastal route that swings
to the east and south of the park (Bevil, Park Road 5). Sensitive to its context within the
park, the road encompasses curves, grades, and hairpin turns that preserved many large, old

38
Noted botanical studies were conducted at Torrey Pines by Dr. Louis H. Pammel of Iowa State College, Kate Sessions
of San Diego, and the Italian plantsman Dr. Franceschi of Santa Barbara (Walsh 46).

49
specimen trees. This bi-way is tied to early highway, real estate, and park development and
played a major role in the evolution of San Diego and the park, itself (Bevil, Park Road 10).
It brought travelers to the lodge and the Fleming house, both of which still play a significant
role in the conservation and interpretation of the site. In the words of Southern California
Automobile Club president, William M. Garland, “…next to bringing Owens River water to
Los Angeles…the road project to San Diego was the most important enterprise for Southern
California” (qtd. by Bevil, Park Road 11). As a measure of how highly regarded this road
was for the people of San Diego, it was renamed for a time as Roosevelt Memorial Drive to
honor the late Theodore Roosevelt (Bevil, Park Road 18). When plans to construct a major
cliff road above the beach through Torrey Pines were proposed in 1928-1930, a spirited
battle began to save the park from the detrimental aspects of construction and the proposed
cut-and-fill through the park’s fragile topography (Torrey Pines Assoc. par. 21).

Praised by business owners for its tourism potential, the plan for the new cliff road soon
attracted the attention of major local, statewide, and national park players, such as George
Marston, City Park Superintendent John Morley, Boston landscape architect and city planner
John Nolen, and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. (Walsh 41). When plans for
the new road continued to move forward, failing to acknowledge warnings of the
questionable safety of motorists, the enormous cost of construction, and the impending
threat to Torrey Pines, Olmsted filed suit against the City in Superior Court with the support
of the newly formed League to Save Torrey Pines Park (Walsh 41). In April 1930, the court
ruled in favor of Olmsted, who claimed such construction would violate article 4 of Ellen
Scripps’ will of 19 April 1924, which stipulated that Torrey Pines be protected in perpetuity
50
as a public park, and it issued a temporary restraining order preventing the city from
constructing the road (Walsh 41). An alternative agreement placed concrete bridges over the
mouth of the lagoon and relocated the proposed highway route further east, eliminating
construction in the park.

In Cornell’s words, the new state Highway 101 carried traffic past this “little haven” at
speeds of “fifty miles per hour”, so instead of being a landmark along the coast route, the
park became “off the road” (Conspicuous California Plants 49). It required that one actually put
in effort to be afforded all its charm, relieving the park of the “certain hurried element of our
populace whose heart and interests are not particularly concerned in the preservation of
natural beauties” (R. Cornell, Conspicuous California Plants 49). The original Torrey Pines Park
Road was subsequently listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998
39
(Bevil,
Park Road 5-20).

39
NRHP #1998001248, listed on 22 Oct. 1998 (Bevil, Park Road 1-37).

51

Figure 6. 1931 Improvement Map for Torrey Pines Preserve by Ralph Cornell. Source: UCLA Library, Department of
Special Collections.

Cornell was once again called upon to draft a second master plan to assist the City of San
Diego in planning the landscape treatment affected by new highway development and
increased usage. Dated 5 May 1931, this report (see fig. 6 for corresponding “Improvement
Map” drawn by Cornell) focused on trail maintenance and the erosion of heavily trafficked
surfaces along the roadway (Walsh 46). The report called for a form of drip irrigation, native
rip rap erosion mats, and only the indigenous plant materials as might be approved by the
landscape architect or outlined specifically in the report (Walsh 46; R. Cornell, “1931
Report” 16). Cornell emphasized that simplicity was essential (“1931 Report” 16). He also
once again recommended the use of ice plant and Australian saltbush, as well as beach sand
verbena (Abronia spp.) for erosion control (Walsh 46).

52
In her will, Ellen Scripps deeded her properties to the City, noting that, “…Permanent
preservation of these rare trees and securing in perpetuity the scenic beauty of that region is
vital” (Scripps 10). Scripps passed away in 1932. It wasn’t until 1936, however, that the City
annexed this land, which included the cliffs northwest of the point, the lowlands at its base,
and the groves on the east side of the railway
40
(Walsh 47).

At the onset of WWII, military enlistment and resource shortages caused park visitation to
drop and 750 acres of the southern portion of the park was leased from the City to the U.S.
Army for training purposes, thus spawning Camp Callan and the anti-aircraft artillery
replacement training center (Walsh 47; Torrey Pines Assoc. par. 22). The site had an
inherent ability to support motorless flight from the dramatic cliffs into the westerly wind.
In keeping with Scripps’ original intent, the strict caveat of this occupational permit was a
guarantee that the park be kept free of damage and open to the public (Torrey Pines Assoc.
par. 22). Buildings constructed on site during this time were dismantled upon war’s end and
the lumber was repurposed in constructing homes for veterans (Torrey Pines Assoc. par.
22). The Torrey Pines Gliderport was later listed on the National Register of Historic
Places
41
, noting its place in the pioneering of aviation technology in Southern California,
hosting famous aviators such as Charles A. Lindbergh and holding records in motorless
flight (Fogel and Fogel 7-16).

40
Under Ordinance 1060, City Council annexed pueblo lots 1338 and 1339 to the park, as deeded in the will of Ellen
Browning Scripps (Walsh 47).

41
NRHP #1993000578, listed on 12 Jul. 1993 (Fogel and Fogel 1-23).

53
Following World War II, Torrey Pines was once again threatened by underfunding and
overuse
42
(Bevil, Park Road 17). Consequently, Cornell was retained to write a third report in
1949. The goal of this study was to evaluate wear and tear on the park and to adjust to the
preservation objectives as outlined by Scripps in her will (R. Cornell, “1949 Report” 18). In
it, Cornell described the inherent conflict found in the dual nature of park planning:
preservation and accessibility. He lamented that, “…Man may destroy that which he loves,
that which he travels great distances to see” (“1949 Report” 18). Detailing trash, fire
damage, and an area on the knoll where foot traffic actually wore away and lowered the soil
level by 18 inches, exposing precious tree roots, Cornell defined a real and necessary
recreational value found in the landscape that relied upon definite segregation in activities of
wear (19). Assuming “that it is desirable to bring greater numbers of people into this park”,
he argued “…that they should be encouraged to visit and picnic and explore. This could be
done without injury to vegetation if it were properly planned and controlled.” (20). He
emphasized that “sincerity” (20) was more important than cost in the approach to park
programming, thus creating greater community value and a deeper sense of promoting our
own heritage. Cornell articulated a two-fold plan for well-balanced recreation in the park: to
preserve the wooded portion as a “wilderness conservation area” for better understanding of
our natural environment and to develop more controlled, necessary, and intensive features
near the Lodge and the southern portion of the park (20-22). Thus, Cornell maintained his
strong original concept of restraint, while intelligently planning for contemporary utility.

42
There was a massive population increase coinciding with the American military presence in San Diego during the war,
with campaigns devoted to promoting the live, work, and play lifestyle afforded by Southern California (Bevil, Park Road
17).

54
The result was that Torrey Pines was protected in perpetuity, yet full of choice and
recreational value in the face of rapid urbanization.

At Cornell’s recommendation, the Torrey Pines Association was established upon the
completion of the 1949 report to create a citizen volunteer organization to manage long-
range park policy, financing, and maintenance (R. Cornell, “1949 Report” 24). As the
organization’s first President, Guy Fleming lobbied for a citywide ballot in 1956 that would
put the park under the stewardship of the State (Bevil, Lodge 15). With the realization that
the City did not have the legal authority to adequately protect the endangered Torrey pine,
nearly 1,000 acres of the park were transferred to the State of California by a 1956 special
City election, thus fulfilling the hopes of earlier preservationists (Torrey Pines Assoc. par.
23). To fulfill additional recreational needs and appease City officials, 100 acres were set
aside for the construction of a public golf course. Torrey Pines officially became a state park
in 1959 and was later renamed Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve (Torrey Pines Assoc. par.
23). The 197-acre Park Extension was acquired in 1970, attracting national media attention
and protecting nearly 1,500 additional pines on the north side of Los Penasquitos lagoon
from encroaching development (Torrey Pines Assoc. par. 24).

It was Ellen Scripps’s wish that this natural park be held in trust for public education and
recreation, to be used as an outdoor museum of native flora, fauna, and natural geology
(Bevil, Park Road 12). Based upon Cornell’s original concept of restraint and through a
masterful collaboration of preservationists, horticulturalists, philanthropists, and a willful
community, Torrey Pines has retained its natural character and ecological value. The park
55
today struggles with common issues, such as invasive plants, extreme droughts, resultant
beetle infestations, and spending cutbacks, yet Torrey Pines remains a unique snapshot of
“what was”. While the park continues to be an important asset for studying and interacting
with the natural environment, it also embraces contemporary social need and recreational
utility.

The park would certainly not exist in its current capacity (see fig. 7) without the lifelong
contributions of Guy Fleming and Ellen Browning Scripps. However, Ralph Cornell’s
legacy in the cultural landscape of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve demonstrates a vital
understanding of the value of the original landscape of Southern California and our long-
term need to connect with it. Cornell raised awareness and advocacy surrounding the
distinctiveness of the Torrey pine and the surrounding native environment, even if he
seemed to unknowingly suggest the inclusion of a few non-native species in his long-term
master plan for the park. He stood firm and shaped perceptions surrounding these
progressive philosophies, despite the fact that they differed from those of Fleming, and he
remained true to his earlier discourse surrounding the “dry ground park” as a “genuine”
representation of Southern California that was imbedded with tangible ecological, economic,
and social merit. Cornell crafted community value by revealing the identity of this “place”
and promoted our own heritage in a deeper sense. He recognized that Torrey Pines served
as a cultural “gateway” to San Diego that played an important role in the growth of the city
and the experience of moving through it. He also anticipated the rapid growth and
urbanization of Southern California and the necessity of well-balanced recreational open
space. Recognizing both cultural and ecological needs within the park, Cornell negotiated
56
both preservation and accessibility by segregating wilderness conservation areas from the
necessary activities of wear. Above all, he considered the precious ephemerality of landscape
and remained clear in his long-range vision for how the park in this sense “as found” should
mature, which contributes to how we use and perceive Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
today. Though differing drastically in form, many of these significant concepts can also be
found in a case study of Cornell’s design for Beverly Gardens in the neighboring metropolis
of Los Angeles.

Figure 7. Coastal cliffs of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve today. Source: Personal Library.
57
CASE STUDY 2 / BEVERLY GARDENS

Figure 8. Beverly Gardens lily pond, ca. 1925. Source: USC Digital Archives.

Around the world, the notion of Beverly Hills conjures up images of a palm-studded
landscape and the luxurious lifestyle it affords. Yet, was the City of Beverly Hills planned
for exclusivity, or did it only become so as a result of successful city planning? From the
onset, this City has carefully articulated a cohesive system of park space and landscape
infrastructure in its development, which has undoubtedly contributed to how residents and
outsiders perceive the urban fabric. Beverly Gardens (see fig. 8 for early image), also known
as the Santa Monica Boulevard Parkway or Santa Monica Park, is arguably the most critical
of these park spaces in that it serves as the widely recognized public face of Beverly Hills.
The framework for this linear park space running parallel to Santa Monica Boulevard was
originally laid out in the 1908 master plan completed by Wilbur Cook, who was to later
become Ralph Cornell’s future business partner. The strip of land was later expanded to
58
comprise roughly 23 city blocks (approximately 2 miles) and was redesigned in 1930 by
Cornell, in association with his city planning and landscape architecture firm of Cook, Hall,
and Cornell. The designation of this cultural landscape was both highly contentious and
unprecedented in that it removed existing built structures and placed a higher value on park
space. Originally intended to attract people to the real estate located six miles west of
downtown Los Angeles, this urban park continues to welcome people and define this elite
community nestled into the foothills of the mountains.

As was the case with the prior case study of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, it is
important first to understand the evolution of Beverly Hills. Prior to being established as a
prestigious city, the landscape of Beverly Hills held many different identities (“History of
Beverly Hills” par. 1-20). At the nexus of the Franklin, Coldwater, and Benedict Canyons of
the Santa Monica Mountains (near the current intersection of Beverly Drive and Sunset
Boulevard), this fertile area stood apart in that it possessed the precious resource of water. It
was considered a sacred site by the native Tongva people and referred to as “Gathering of
the Waters”, or translated by the Spanish explorers as “El Rodeo de las Aguas”. When Friar
Juan Crespi of the Don Jose Gaspar de Portola expedition arrived in this area in 1769, he
recorded in a journal his passage through a “large vineyard of wild grapes and an infinity of
rose bushes” (“History of Beverly Hills” par. 4-5). He described that, “…After traveling
about half a league (they) came to a village of this region…people came into the road,
greeted (them) and offered seeds…(their) gift of life.” Following in 1838, during Mexican
rule, a land grant was deeded to Maria Rita Valdez, where she built an adobe ranch house
and raised livestock. After several ambushes by the native people, she later sold the rancho
59
to Benjamin D. Wilson and Henry Hancock; however subsequent droughts decimated their
crops and cattle. Following the Civil War and the local discovery of oil, wells were drilled
throughout the area and cattle gave way to herds of sheep. In 1868, Edward Preuss
purchased the rancho with the never-realized intention of establishing a colony for German
immigrant farmers called the “City of Santa Maria” which he would subdivide into five-acre
lots and sell for $10. Yet, droughts once again took hold. When Charles Denker and Henry
Hammel acquired the land title in the 1880’s, they planted bean fields to carry initial costs,
while dreaming of a North African-themed subdivision called “Morocco”, but in 1888 the
national economy collapsed. The most defining influence finally came shortly after the turn
of the last century, when Burton Green with the Amalgamated Oil Company purchased the
property to rekindle the exploration of oil.

The failure to produce oil forced the Amalgamated Oil Company to realign as the Rodeo
Land & Water Company in 1906, when the land first became known as “Beverly Hills”, a
reference to Beverly Farms in Massachusetts (“History of Beverly Hills” par. 11). Given the
lengthy distance from downtown with little in-between, the company understood that they
could not follow in the usual practice of Los Angeles real estate speculation by merely
subdividing the 3,200-acre property (Lockwood 14). This subdivision had to be distinctive.
In association with architect Myron Hunt and selling agent Percy Clark, the Rodeo Land &
Water Company hired Wilbur David Cook to lay out a general master plan for an idealistic
city (Hall 21; Wanamaker, Early Beverly Hills 18; “History of Beverly Hills” par. 12). Cook,
Cornell’s future partner in the firm Cook, Hall, and Cornell, was a prominent landscape
60
architect who had also been educated at Harvard and worked in the offices of the Olmsted
Brothers.

Figure 9. 1929 General Plan for Beverly Hills, California, by Cook, Hall, and Cornell. Source: Orian Hallor Hall, as found in
“Hall, George Duffield” by Meredith Kaplan in Pioneers of American Landscape Design.

Cook had studied a composite of city planning from the Old World
43
and America, looking
to inspiration from Thomas Jefferson and Major L’Enfant in the plan for Washington, D.C.;
Frederick Law Olmsted in the picturesque suburban design of Riverside, Illinois; Daniel

43
Even 20 years later, Americans were still largely self-conscious and looked to Europe for formal design principles,
particularly as landscape architecture was in such an infantile stage. Local discourse in newspapers described findings of
vacations and studies in Europe, as evidenced in a 1927 article in the Los Angeles Times that describes the highway which
Mussolini had constructed from Milan to Lake Como, the roadways in Switzerland, the underground railroad that emerged
in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, the ancient tree species in England, and the streetscapes and urban parks in Paris
(“Let City Take Care” 2).

61
Burnham in the layout of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago; and Charles Eliot
in the layout of Boston (Cook “Planning a City” 1-4). He believed that the fundamental
principle of scientific city planning must be rooted first in convenience, as well as beauty.
Near the turn of the last century, he wrote of the ideal city of the landscape architect
(“Planning a City” 3):
It is planned in conjunction with engineers, architects, sculptors and landscape
gardeners. It is a metropolitan and preferably a harbor city. Its approaches by rail
and water are attractive, artistic and imposing. Its traffic is centralized, the railroads
entering a Union Station below grade and the electric systems centering at the same
point, also by means of subways. Its business streets are wide, clean and well lighted
and paved; the sidewalks are wide; the residential section is well parked; a uniform
system of street trees, under the care of a City Forester, is to be found. The parks,
playgrounds, plazas and parkways are well designed, conveniently placed and well
cared for. The park system is connected by wide parkways or boulevards shaded by
trees and accessible by foot and electric cars.
44

In this initial master plan framework, Wilbur Cook developed a scheme for Beverly Hills
(see fig. 9) with wide, curvilinear streets, generous reservations for parks, a unified street tree
system, a ten-acre hotel site, and a separated system of land use (Hall 21). As Cook had
previously written, and certainly held true for Beverly Hills, “…the distinctive beauty of any
city is its natural topography. Here, indeed, lies its individuality, and the successful city
planner, or civic expert, as we call him now, is the man who preserves and accentuates the
individuality of a city while entrancing its beauty” (“Planning a City” 2). Cook’s plan
ultimately anticipated the rise of the automobile and a western wilderness destined for great
urbanity, yet was only approved following many convincing discussions concerning the

44
It is interesting to note that this conception of the ideal city seems to quite similarly reflect the “Garden City” movement
in the United Kingdom, formulated by Ebenezer Howard (Jellicoe and Jellicoe 297). In his Diagram for a Garden City,
Howard resolved the relation of architecture to landscape and formulated the idea of planning for balanced ecological and
commercially viable towns.

62
economic advantages of street patterns following natural topography, as related to street
gradients and drainage lines, and the value found in providing inhabitants with parks and
parkways (Hall 21).

As the surrounding area was largely undeveloped, careful consideration was first given to
arterial connections to Los Angeles and transport extending through the site (Hall 21, 25).
As George Hall, Cornell’s other business partner in the firm of Cook, Hall, and Cornell,
describes in a 1932 article entitled “Beverly Hills, California – A Subdivision That Grew into
a City” (25):
Santa Monica boulevard was in the southerly section, upon which was then located
the Pacific electric railway
45
. The proposed plan set aside a sixty foot central parking
area for the street railway, with ornamental park strip on either side of the tracks,
bordered on the north by a wide, major street, and, on the south, by a somewhat
narrower street, with buildings permitted only on the south side. This double
boulevard was planned to ensure a wide fire break between the business district,
which would lie on the south and the residential district to the north of Santa Monica
boulevard. Sunset boulevard, lying further to the north, was extended through the
property, reaching the hotel site and extending further to the west, and here again a
contemplated car line was provided with a park-like strip so as to create a two-street
boulevard. This particular car line has never been built, but the central parkway has
now become an attractive bridle path
46
of very considerable value to the subdivision,
which enjoys bridle trails of many miles in extent.

45
The Pacific Electric streetcar continued to run along Santa Monica Boulevard until all rail traffic ended in the mid-1960’s
(Wanamaker, Early Beverly Hills 22).

46
A Pacific Electric trolley ran up Rodeo Drive and along Sunset Boulevard for a few years, prior to being abandoned for
lack of passengers (Wanamaker, Early Beverly Hills 65-69). In 1924, the Bridle Path Association of Beverly Hills laid out a
looping system of bridle paths along Sunset Boulevard, Benedict and Coldwater Canyons, and Rodeo Drive that extended
to the Santa Monica Bay and surrounding mountains. The decomposed granite path was 30 feet in width and bordered
with flowering shrubs (Starr D6). Horseback riding was banned within City limits in 1930 and the bridle path functioned
as a bicycle way until it was deconstructed in 1958 (Wanamaker, 1930-2005 89).

63
For internal circulation, a one-track, one-car trolley line (the “Dinky”) ran for a short time
47
,
looping from the Pacific Electric station on Santa Monica Boulevard, heading North along
Rodeo Drive to the hotel, turning East along Sunset Boulevard, and retracing its path South
along Alpine Drive (Lockwood 17). Alleys were also constructed to resemble an attractive
country land, while allowing for access to subterranean public utilities (Hall 23, 25). The
large turning circle where the streets converge near Sunset Boulevard was originally
contemplated as “a central motif in a small civic center”, which included a triangular-shaped
ornamental park
48
just south of the hotel complex (Hall 26). Although the hotel and
adjacent long-term cottages were constructed in 1912 to stimulate further development and
certainly became the center of social life during that time, this Northern civic center was
never realized (Starr D6; Wanamaker, Early Beverly Hills 44).

A three-tiered residential structure – which consisted of mansions and large estates situated
north of Sunset Boulevard in the canyons and foothills
49
, handsome residences in the four
blocks between Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevards, and smaller lots designed in a
rectangular grid formed by the flatland triangular intersection south of Santa Monica and
north of Wilshire Boulevard
50
– provided for a total of 12,000 home sites and highlighted the

47
The “Dinky” was notoriously unreliable, prior to being decommissioned. As Lockwood described, local boys would
grease the tracks and the underpowered engine could not climb the gradual incline to Sunset Boulevard (17).
48
The Sunset Municipal Park was renamed the Will Rogers Memorial Park in 1952 to honor the political humorist and late
beloved resident (Wanamaker, Early Beverly Hills 59).

49
Historian Wanamaker notes that the planning and landscaping of the hills North of Sunset were supervised by the
Olmsteds, who worked from a blueprint designed by Cook (Early Beverly Hills 57). Although Cook had previously worked
with the Olmsteds in Brookline, no other specific notation to the Olmsteds working on the Beverly Hills plan was found.

50
This eastern triangular intersection formed between Santa Monica Boulevard on the north and Wilshire Boulevard on
the south is not shown on the 1929 plan by Cook, Hall, and Cornell that reinterpreted Cook’s 1908 plan for Beverly Hills
(see fig. 9). This land actually evolved into commercial land uses now known as the Golden Triangle of Beverly Hills and,
centered on Rodeo Drive, is one of the most exclusive shopping districts in the world.

64
necessity of socio-economic diversity
51
(and equitable park space) for civic longevity. As
Lockwood describes in his 1982 article in the Los Angeles Times, “Geography made
economic diversity easy to accomplish, because land in Beverly Hills had not been created
equal” (Lockwood 14). The area “below the tracks” was divided into more common lots, as
Cook emphasized the idea that a city would not survive without a “support community”,
while the land North of Sunset had more dramatic positioning with clear (and smog-free)
glimpses towards the Pacific Ocean (Lockwood 14-15). Zoning was not fully established at
this time, yet efforts were made to define and limit commercial and industrial land use,
which was to essentially lie south of Santa Monica Boulevard (Hall 26).

Cook’s general plan also included three blocks of highly ornamental parks across from the
former Pacific Electric station on Santa Monica Boulevard
52
, providing “a magnificent
gateway into the tract” (Hall 26). Positioned as an impressionable selling factor, the Beverly
Gardens
53
consisted of a grassy area, trees, a central lily pond
54
and fountain, and a large,
arched sign that read “Beverly Hills”. Helen Starr later wrote of the park (D6):
There are few public grounds in California more charming than the parks of Beverly.
A large lily pond centers the lower park, which faces Santa Monica Boulevard, while
behind this pond, like a graceful curtain, is one of the largest wisteria vines to be
found in the State. Vine-covered walls, trees, cane, and shrubbery surround the lily
pond and every type of rare water plant is to be found in the pond.

51
Though otherwise seemingly egalitarian, restrictive covenants in every property deed forbade black and Asian people
from buying or even occupying property, except as live-in servants (Lockwood 15). The racial makeup of Beverly Hills is
still predominately Caucasian.

52
“Morocco Junction” or “Beverly” Rail Station at the intersection of Canon Drive was the most prominent landmark in
Beverly Hills from 1896 until 1934, when it was replaced by the existing Post Office (Wanamaker, Early Beverly Hills 58).
Other notable buildings constructed in the vicinity include City Hall (1931) and the Fire Station (1932).

53
The parks between Rodeo and Crescent Drives also seem to be referred to as ‘Park Way” and “Santa Monica Park”.

54
The lily pond was eventually filled in and transformed into a flowerbed, which is as it exists today (“B.H. to Convert Lily
Pond” WS13).

65

Three other parks
55
were later developed along the outer edges of the subdivision, creating a
variety of recreational values.

Figure 10. Beverly Drive, north of Santa Monica Boulevard, 1923. Source: USC Digital Archives.

The unifying element of these park spaces was an extensive system of street trees (see fig.
10), said to have totaled 27,000 (“$1,350,000” 1)
56
. It was hoped that these trees would draw
wealthy Easterners, nostalgic for the more lush landscapes of home, to Beverly Hills rather
than to Pasadena or the West Adams district. Ten “tree doctors” were employed year-round
to tend to tree “pruning and surgery” involved with maintenance and pest control

55
Robury, La Cienega, and Coldwater Canyon Parks.

56
A 1939 Beverly Hills Citizen article valued each tree at $50 representing a total civic asset of $1,350,000 (“$1,350,000” 1).

66
(“$1,350,00” 1). A special improvement district for the planting of trees was created under
the improvement act of 1913, and subsequent maintenance was supported by the general
fund (“Let the City Take Care” 2).

To supply these parks and the regimented system of street trees with plants, as well as to
encourage the beautification of private properties, 100 acres was set aside for a nursery at the
intersections of Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards
57
with horticultural consultant J.J.
Reeves in charge of horticultural expertise and propagation (Hall 25; “$1,350,000” 1). Given
the remoteness and rapid development of this area in the early 1900’s, the Beverly Hills
Nursery proved to be a successful endeavor that lasted well into the 1950’s (Wanamaker,
Early Beverly Hills 57). Beverly Hills also owned its own water supply at the time, and by
1924, the City’s per capita water consumption far exceeded any known city in the world
(Starr D6).

The Beverly Hills subdivision was recorded in January 1907 (Wanamaker, 1930-2005 7).
Though there were only six houses north of Santa Monica Boulevard in 1911, the real estate
boom soon took off and Beverly Hills was incorporated in 1914 (Wanamaker, Early Beverly
Hills 23; “History of Beverly Hills” par. 13). A wave of movie stars soon began to flood
Beverly Hills, beginning with Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford building a mansion in
1919. This projected an image of luxury and taste that brought press coverage and notoriety
(“History of Beverly Hills” par.14). In addition to rodeos, horse and dog shows, flower

57
This is now the current location of the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

67
shows, and aviation spectacles, radio broadcasts from the short-lived Speedway
58
in the
1920s drew a popular nationwide spotlight to the area (“History of Beverly Hills” par. 15).
A strong sense of pride surrounding their new City grew – so much so that when faced with
the threat of annexation by the City of Los Angeles in 1923, citizens quickly mobilized and
were successful in maintaining their own independence (“History of Beverly Hills” par. 16).
Public interest in park space had increased, as well, generating local newspaper warnings to
eager residents to leave the watering and maintenance of the street tree system to the City
(“Let City Take Care” 2).

Subsequently, the population of Beverly Hills increased from 674 people in 1920 to 17,429
people in 1930, which led the nationwide census with population growth of more than
2475% and was nearly double the growth rate of any other community in Los Angeles
County (Cohan D1; R. Cornell, “Beverly Hills’ Program” 471; “Beverly Leads Growth” D1).
In 1927, with uncertain zoning legislation governing the North side of Santa Monica
Boulevard and a new proposal to permit multi-family units, churches, schools, and semi-
public buildings, the Beverly Hills Residential Protective Association
59
filed a petition
requesting that the City condemn the strip of land extending the entire length of the city for
park purposes, as described above (“Park Favored” A1). A few churches and two residences
were already constructed in this space. With the support of more than half of the property
owners north of Santa Monica Boulevard, the petition read (A1):

58
These radio broadcasts were equivalent to the Indianapolis 500 of today (“History of Beverly Hills” par. 15).

59
The opposition to annexation was led by several members of the film industry, including Will Rogers, Mary Pickford,
Douglas Fairbanks, Harold Lloyd, Tom Mix, and Rudolph Valentino (Wanamaker, Early Beverly Hills 65). The City
remained independent with a vote of 507 to 337.
68
It is for the best interests of all owners of property in Beverly Hills that a strip of
land, equal to the width of at least one lot on the north side of Santa Monica
Boulevard, extending from the eastern to the western limits of the city, including the
northerly frontage along Wilshire Boulevard, excepting the location of three
churches now erected within said strip, be condemned and taken for the purpose and
use of a public park.

That the establishing of a park would forever solve the question of the use to which
said strip of property should be put, and zoned, and end the repeated and pending
agitation of and controversy upon the subject.

That the owners of the property north of said strip, who have erected, or propose to
erect, improvements for single residence only and in compliance with the building
restrictions contained in the deeds from the Rodeo Land and Water Company and
who are here assembled, in their own behalf, and for other such owners not present,
urge and petition the City Council of Beverly Hills at once to take and commence
proceedings to condemn and take said strip of land, of such width as it may
determine, for the use and purpose of a public park.

Sponsors estimated that $10,000 would be required for each lot under the condemnation
plan, figuring that the property could be procured for $340,000, which the property owners
acquired through bonds
60
and then deeded to the City (“Park Favored” A1; “Beverly Leads
Parks” D2). As a dialogue already existed about the deficiency of park space in Los Angeles
and the risk of self-strangulation associated with the phenomenal growth of the Southland
61
,
this aggressive resolution was passed in 1927 (“Fact and Comment” E2).

By this time, Wilbur Cook had joined forces with landscape architect George Duffield Hall
from St. Louis (UCLA Oral History 82-83). Following work at the San Diego Exposition,

60
Cornell recalled, with a certain level of confusion, that, “…there was about a $750,000 bond issue and the residents
voted that as an improvement district assessment against a certain number of local properties. With that money they took
off the…houses and acquired the entire strip of land except for…church property which remained.” (UCLA Oral History
95-97).

61
It is interesting to note that, in this year, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce hired the Olmsted Brothers and
Harland Bartholomew and Associates landscape firms to begin drafting their plan for Parks, Playgrounds and Beaches for the Los
Angeles Region, which comprised of a three-year exhaustive survey and assessment effort that was ultimately forgotten until
recent times (Hise and Deverell 1-7). This plan did make suggestions for a “Beverly Hills Parkway” as a “connecting link”,
where the “taking of land now should be sufficient to permit such changes within the park lands when required” (qtd. by
Hise and Deverell 218).

69
Palos Verdes Estates with the Olmsted Brothers firm, and the private estates of people such
as Howard E. Huntington, Cook was called to Washington, D.C. at the onset of WWI, along
with Hall and almost every other landscape architect of the time, to participate in what they
called “war cantonment planning”.
62
When Cook and Hall opened their offices in Los
Angeles shortly after Ralph Cornell, “…they were probably the best men of their day (in the
city planning and landscape architecture profession of Southern California)” (UCLA Oral
History 82-83). Cornell fondly remembered how these “friendly” gentlemen made several
visits to his “one room, one man” office to discuss several matters: whether Cornell would
object to them opening an office in the same building, whether Cornell would object to
them expanding and relocating just next door, and finally, whether Cornell would like to join
them in practice – which, as Cornell found, was to be “a very pleasant arrangement” (UCLA
Oral History 84-86). Cornell later reminisced that, “…during the latter half of the 1920’s,
Cook, Hall, and Cornell were probably the outstanding subdivision designers of that period”
(UCLA Oral History 94).
63
All three men were Harvard educated with roughly a decade
separation in age, respectively.

When the City of Beverly Hills called for planners to design the newly acquired strip of land
along Santa Monica Boulevard and conducted interviews, Cornell recalled (UCLA Oral
History 95-97):

62
War cantonment planning (or camp planning) was essentially designing communities to provide temporary housing for
military enlistees during training (Birnbaum and Karson 156-157). Cornell noted, that for the landscape architecture
profession, “…everything stopped during that time” (UCLA Oral History 82-83).

63
Together, Cook, Hall, and Cornell worked on Mar Vista near Rancho Road, the Carthay Center off Wilshire Boulevard,
several subdivisions on the East side, plans in Bandini, Montebello Park, Montebello Country Club, Midwick View Estates,
several cemeteries, and some work at Monrovia, Anaheim, and Long Beach (UCLA Oral History 94).

70
…I was given the job. It was one of these personal affairs perhaps where one
individual gets the leads and inquiries come into him. He consummates it and the
rest of the firm doesn’t pay much attention to it… The overall city plan, not the
plan for a park, but the road pattern had been established by Cook. That was quite a
deal for quiet times and a young fellow. Anyway that was a personal job as far as the
patterning of work in the office was concerned… That was how it worked out. The
city acquired the man, paid for the plans, did the construction, built the park, and
they had money left over, which is quite a case in favor of a community redeveloping
an area. If they want to do it, it can be done…

24 years after the original plan for Beverly Hills was prepared, in re-alignment with Cook’s
initial specifications for a buffer strip along Santa Monica Boulevard, Cornell secured the
commission for the new linear park space. Cornell’s new plans built upon Cook’s earlier
framework for the impressionable citing and design for Beverly Gardens (see fig. 11 and fig.
12). He realized that the newly comprised 23-blocks of park space was “not a parkway in
any accepted sense of the term”, but was a “strip park”, paralleling one of the main traffic
arteries through the city and serving as a “buffer of beauty” between residential development
to the north and commercial development to the south (R. Cornell, “Beverly Hills’ Program”
473). Cornell acknowledged the inherent limitations found in the park’s form, as it was a
roughly 80-100 foot wide strip that traversed 23 city blocks, with the potential for conflict
between pedestrian and auto traffic at every street intersection (473-474).

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Figure 11. 1930 Mylar study for Santa Monica Boulevard drawn by Ralph Cornell. Source: UCLA Library, Department of
Special Collections.

Figure 12. 1930 Mylar study for Beverly Hills Parkway drawn by Ralph Cornell. Source: UCLA Library, Department of
Special Collections.

Working within the aforementioned constraints, Cornell intuitively sketched out the plans
for a broad walk that would provide the internal framework for the new linear strip park (R.
Cornell, “Beverly Hills’ Program” 474). This 10-foot wide walk was designed with a sense of
pedestrian intimacy, set back 65 feet from the street and flanked by a cohesive row of
evergreen Chinese elms (Ulmus parvifolia) (Koons J10). This “tree allee” was intended to give
unity to the smaller park spaces in each block, which essentially served as complete,
72
identifiable parks in themselves, each with a slightly different treatment, yet harmonizing
with each other (R. Cornell, “Beverly Hills’ Program” 474). Cornell’s work clearly stands out
from Cook’s older design at the center of the City, in that it was built upon a plan providing
for travel parallel to a major established source of transportation, with a clear emphasis on
pathways (Koons J10). At the same time, subtle groupings of plants throughout the park
were also intended to draw the interest of the park user inward, rather than getting lost in the
length of the strip.

Upon closer inspection, Cornell enhanced the direct experience of this “monumental
landscaping project” with naturalistic effects, the orchestration of light and shadow, striking
specimen trees, ornamental planting, the use of water features, and user amenities such as
drinking fountains and seating throughout the park (Koons J10). One block of the park was
to be dedicated entirely to Cornell’s beloved desert species in a cactus garden, and one was
to be planted in more sophisticated formality with roses that, while not native, were found to
do superbly in this climate. Four pergolas were also spaced intermittently throughout the
park. In 1931, Los Angeles Times columnist Alice Koons noted the success of Cornell’s
street plantings along Santa Monica Boulevard, citing the “admirable way that utilitarian
features can be handled gracefully” in the screening effect of a mixture of acacia and
eucalyptus lining the street (J10). Cornell completed his design scheme with two architectural
fountains, each with seating facilities and local interest, which could be found at either end
of the park. The star-shaped fountain
64
near the Eastern end of the park at Doheny Drive
featured colorful tile and two birdbaths. At the far end near Wilshire Boulevard and

64
The fountain in what is often referred to as Doheny Park was designed by architect W. Asa Hudson (Wanamaker, Early
Beverly Hills 109).

73
Whittier Drive, suggestions for an electric fountain
65
materialized in 1931; the fountain (see
fig. 13) supposedly halted traffic for hours upon its unveiling (Wallach par. 3). The
fountain’s jets and colored lighting effects allow for 60 different combinations every eight
minutes and served as “a grand climax” to the strip park (Koons J10).

Figure 13. Historical postcard of electric fountain. Source: Western Publishing & Novelty Company, Los Angeles.

It is worthy of noting the idea that the climax was perceived as occurring on the West side of
the park, as if a park user consumed this experience from East to West. Beverly Hills was
originally touted as an ideal community within close proximity to downtown Los Angeles in
the East. However, this perception of the climax in the West seems to predict the ultimate

65
Near the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard before the park wraps around to Whittier Drive, the fountain base was
designed by architect Ralph Carlin Flewelling, while the sculpture on top of the Tongva person in prayer was designed by
sculptor Robert Merrell Gage (Wallach par. 3).

74
shift away from the downtown Los Angeles area and speaks volumes about the psychology
at the time surrounding the pioneering migration “West” and the land of leisure near the
ocean.

With the rest of the nation in the midst of the Great Depression, the strip park was
completed in the summer of 1931 (see fig. 14). At an approximate cost of $720,000, Beverly
Gardens placed the City in the front rank (in relation to cities of comparable size) for area
devoted to park purposes in proportion to total city acreage
66
(“Beverly Leads Parks” D2).

Figure 14. Section of Beverly Gardens “strip park” in 1931, 60 days after completion. Source: UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections.

66
In a 1930 L.A. Times article, the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce reported a total area of 60 acres, or 1.9%, devoted
to park purposes. These figures were found to favor Beverly Hills as opposed to other comparably sized cities in the Los
Angeles vicinity, such as Pomona, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Huntington Park, Glendale, and Santa Ana
(“Beverly Leads Parks” D2).

75
Cornell attributed the materialization of Beverly Hills to the land developers whom had the
“courage and vision” and, more importantly, “appreciation of character and quality in all
things – even cities” to plan for urbanity by uncharacteristically employing city planners
(“Beverly Hills’ Program” 471). As the fastest growing city in the United States at the time,
George Hall highlighted this “interesting analogy between…rapid growth and the provisions
of wise, far-sighted city planning which, to a certain extent at least…brought about this
result” (21). A great “civic consciousness” and “respect for parks and parkways and street
trees” was critical to this successful growth, as well, noted Cornell (“Beverly Hills’ Program”
471). Even if the initial goal in planning a beautiful subdivision was lucrative, the City would
not have remained as desirable if it wasn’t for clear and persistent guiding principles
surrounding park space. Yet, Beverly Gardens was destined to “become a landscape
development of outstanding interest, attractiveness and usefulness” with the second round
of improvements that specifically included Cornell’s mindful interventions (Hall 26). Koons
seemed to concur, emphasizing that the strip park set “a new pace in modern city
development” (Koons J10). Winning a national award for his work, Cornell had once again
set an important precedent in the evolution of park space within the urban fabric of
Southern California (V. Cornell 129). To this day, the strip park still creates a striking
identity for Beverly Hills (see fig. 15).

Ralph Cornell’s legacy in the cultural landscape of Beverly Gardens demonstrates his
remarkable insight into the more immediate application of long-range city planning and the
concepts of socialist reform that afforded urban park space in the layout of the “ideal city”.
Cornell followed Cook’s original overall framework for the prestigious, fastest-growing city
76
in the United States, just prior to the effects of the Depression settling in Beverly Hills. His
re-design of the “strip park” continued to serve as a buffer between conflicting land uses, as
opposed to the fundamental concepts of the “parkway”. Thoughtful intuition enabled him
to distill the distinctiveness of “place” in Beverly Hills, as well, in anticipation again of an
increasingly urban fabric in Los Angeles. Although the area already had a long history of
human manipulation during the Spanish-Mexican and rancho eras, glimpses of the original
character and features of Southern California could be found in Cornell’s interpretation of
Beverly Gardens. Unlike his characteristic treatment of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve,
Cornell was not pure in his application of native plants. However, his understanding of the
conditions of the native landscape enabled him to use plants that were appropriate and
thrived in this environment. He also successfully crafted an identity still valued by the
inhabitants of Beverly Hills, in the form of a linear “gateway” that users would directly
experience as they moved along the edge of the foothills. Even if Cornell had a lesser
impact on the overall vision and complete evolution of Beverly Gardens, his interventions
within this cultural landscape were more design specific. Like the eventual manifestation of
Torrey Pines, Beverly Gardens demonstrates the graceful inclusion of utilitarian features like
drinking fountains and seating. More importantly, Cornell’s design featured unifying
simplicity and a certain degree of intimacy that created legibility in the urban park space
threshold of Southern California. In a more blatant, highly-transformed, artificial
representation of “nature” at Beverly Gardens, Cornell still reinforced the vital connection
of how people perceived themselves within the natural world.

77

Figure 15. Beverly Gardens today, in place of where the lily pond used to exist. Source: Personal Library.
78
THE LATER YEARS
The lifelong work of Ralph Cornell is certainly worthy of exhaustive study
67
. His work was
“modest and unassuming”, yet gracefully took on the scale of such projects as Pomona
College, Elysian Park, Griffith Park, the University of California at Los Angeles (“UCLA”),
the University of Hawaii, and other major public parks and grounds throughout the
Southland (Padilla 115-116). He fulfilled the Hollywood fantasy by working on an adjustable
set design for Fox Movietone (Streatfield 136) and evoked a past California history in his
eloquent restoration of the grounds at Rancho Los Cerritos. He also worked on the Ford
Motor Company Office Building in Dearborn, Michigan, and the Atomic Energy
Commission at Los Alamos, New Mexico, while maintaining the ability to design at a more
intimate scale such as in the Desert Art Galleries of Mrs. Bettye K. Cree and a private garden
for a blind client. He worked on housing projects, cemeteries, civic centers, and modest
bungalows. Ralph Cornell even took on hotel endeavors in Egypt and the Philippines.
Towards the middle and end of his career, Cornell hosted the Chaparral Club Radio Show
for years and became a Fellow and Local Chapter President of the American Society of
Landscape Architecture (“ASLA”). He contributed articles, lectures, and places and
remained active in the landscape architecture profession right up until the end of his life.
Whatever he touched, he did so “with the finished hand of the master artist” (Padilla 116).
Having just negotiated another term as supervising landscape architect at UCLA, Ralph
Dalton Cornell passed away on 6 April 1972.

67
A selected list of projects and a bibliography of his published material is listed in his tribute issue of California Horticultural
Journal, which was published in October of 1972 (Pacific Horticulture Foundation 164 and Shroeder 166-170).

79
CHAPTER 4. SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS EARLY WORK
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and Beverly Gardens highlight the extraordinary insight
of Ralph Cornell in his design and treatment of the cultural landscapes of Southern
California. In both of these early projects, Cornell demonstrates a critical ability to plan for
the future and reinforce our cultural connection to the natural world. He promoted the
distinctiveness of native species and the original landscape at Torrey Pines, while crafting a
unique identity for an elite city at Beverly Gardens. Despite critical differences in the
approach and essential form of each park space, Cornell understood the dynamics of
climate, geology, and topography in the Southern California landscape and the constant
shifts that occur in cultural values. His enduring legacy in these park spaces encompasses
both ecological and cultural vitality in two differing urban fabrics. Above all, both guiding
policies for these cultural landscapes were unprecedented. The idea of “restraint” at Torrey
Pines was not a popular idea during the early 1920’s in Southern California. Similarly, it was
highly controversial to remove built structures to accommodate the Beverly Gardens strip
park, thus placing a higher premium on public park space for all. Yet, the far-reaching
cultural landscapes are still appreciated for these bold concepts today.

Cornell’s work in Southern California was especially significant during the time between
WWI and the early onset of the Great Depression, which was a highly transformative period
in the history of the West. At the time, the Southland was experiencing phenomenal growth.
The idea of California and the comfortable lifestyle it afforded drew people from all over the
world. Cornell had the opportunity to be extremely influential in that the regional cities were
at a pivotal moment in their development. Every design intervention was far-reaching.
80

Ralph Cornell established the first landscape architecture firm based in Los Angeles in 1919.
For the next decade, the youthful profession was still searching for effective measures of
resolving the demands associated with designing for an influx of people. With only a few
practicing firms in Southern California at the time, they had great breadth in the types of
projects on which they were working. As a result, within this small professional circle, there
was inherently a great deal of inter-related thought and dialogue about urban park space.
This interconnectedness has consistently played an interesting role in the landscape
profession, in general (Birnbaum and Karson xxi-xxiii). With landscape architects vying for
the same projects, collaborating on designs and plans, working on the same landscapes at
different times, and mentoring and supporting each other professionally and academically,
landscape architecture became an extended “family tree”
68
(Birnbaum and Karson xxii). The
capacities of landscape architects had to be all-encompassing. With this crossover as urban
parks began to take form, Cornell and a few of his associates emerged with a parallel career
in both high art and plant design.

Yet, the landscape of Southern California in the 1920’s was characterized with a lack of
distinctive regional identity that entices people to call a place “home”. With a mixture of
cultures and philosophies, the “urban threshold” remained somewhat illegible. However, as
the native landscape was disappearing and the region was becoming increasingly urbanized,

68
Cultural landscape historian, Charles Birnbaum, notes that the greatest illustration of this extended “family tree” is
perhaps the close ties between the Olmsted office and the landscape profession (Birnbaum and Karson xxii). This can also
be applied to Cornell’s career, as Cornell encountered the Olmsted influence in his studies at Harvard, in his work with
Cook and Hall (who both had their own previous ties to the Olmsteds), in his preservation advocacy at Torrey Pines, in
relationship between the strip park in Beverly Hills and the 1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew Plan for Los Angeles, and the list
goes on and on.

81
there was a sudden cultural shift to find a style that was all their own and the inhabitants of
the Southland looked to their own landscape for inspiration.

As Southern California struggled to find the necessary balance between nature and man in
the face of rapid urbanization, Ralph Cornell championed three fundamental themes: the
necessity for park space in the early layout of city fabric, the understanding of native plants
and landscapes of Southern California, and the obligation as designers to find authenticity in
the design of our cultural landscapes. A strong-willed civic movement supported these new
design strategies for urban park space.
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THE NEED FOR GREEN / EQUITABLE PARK SPACE IN CITY PLANNING
Like several key figures in American landscape architecture, Ralph Cornell believed in the
necessity of equitable park space in city planning. He was intuitive in anticipating that
Southern California was destined for urbanity. Just one year before the opening of the Los
Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, which allowed for a seemingly infinite capacity of people in the
region of Southern California, Cornell wrote his essay “Wanted: A Genuine Southern
California Park”. As his personal experiences in the wilderness shaped how he valued
natural spaces, he would likely have felt a deep need to satisfy a need for green space in a
burgeoning urban environment. In respect to city parks, Cornell believed (“The Small City
Park as a Great Asset” 382):
The task of properly providing breathing space and places of retreat from the noise
and dirt and confusion of a large city is a vital problem. Green grass and trees,
flowers, fresh air, and sunshine are all absolutely essential for the health and
happiness of the human race. It has truthfully been said that wretchedness and
squalor breed crime; that beauty and cleanliness of surroundings inspire worthy
thoughts and deeds and tend toward the elimination of things evil. The matter of
city parks thus becomes an all important city problem and should be carefully
weighed and considered in all city planning. Too much attention cannot be given to
this subject, and its importance is so often borne in upon the city relatively late in its
growth, when it becomes necessary to condemn, or acquire by private purchase at
high figure, lands for such public use. California has ever been inclined to profit
from the experience of others, but she is still embryonic in her development and can
realize with difficulty, if at all, the enormity of her future growth and progress.

In this statement, Cornell shares many fundamental principles with the founding fathers of
American park spaces. Upon initial inspection of how he perceived urban park space,
Cornell seemed to relate to the Jeffersonian concepts that refreshment of the soul and
intellectual enlightenment could be attained in nature (Marshall and Marshall 150). They
83
both believed in the need to save for posterity the aesthetic integrity of nature and valued
time spent outdoors.

In a further demonstration, Cornell’s work could be considered a late expression of the
Andrew Jackson Downing tradition of American landscape design. In Downing’s Rural
Essays, he argued (qtd. by The Park Institute of America 43):
The taste of one individual, as well as that of a nation, will be in direct proportion to
the profound sensibility with which he perceives the beautiful in natural scenery.
…Open wide, therefore, the doors of your libraries and picture-galleries, all ye true
Republicans! Build halls where knowledge shall be freely diffused among men, and
not shut up within the narrow walls of narrower institutions. Plant spacious parks in
your cities, and unloose their gates as wide as the gates of morning, to the whole
people.

This statement carries many parallels with Cornell’s beliefs on how direct environmental
experience contributes to the capacities of people, and as Cornell believed, particularly that
of youth (UCLA Oral History 15-16). Both Cornell and Downing believed that the nature
that could be found in park space was a necessity for all people alike
69
(The Park Institute of
America 43-48; McIntyre 26 Feb. 2010). On a side note, this theme on the integration of
park space in cities and the interrelationships between people, activities, and their
environment can also be found in connections to both Patrick Geddes in his city planning
work in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Ebenezer Howard in his Garden Cities concept as a
reaction to the terrible housing conditions in England, although neither of them were
working in America (Steinitz 78-79). Although this was occurring in the mid to late 19
th

69
Cornell demonstrated this idea in his 1931 restoration for the historic grounds at Rancho Los Cerritos, which is now
a State and National Historic Landmark and a City of Long Beach museum (McIntyre 26 Feb. 2010). In this Bixby
family estate garden, he promoted “living in the landscape”, while integrating historic trees and other specimen from
the original adobe built in 1844 with his design (McIntyre 26 Feb. 2010). However, in a very subtle, but provocative
design intervention, he also created a separate garden for the servants quarters, which was a “cultural revolution” of
sorts that would not have been popular at the time (McIntyre 26 Feb. 2010).

84
Century and just at the turn of the 20
th
Century, long before the period of significance in
Cornell’s work during the 1920s and early 1930s, many intellectuals and designers in Europe,
England, and America shared these beliefs on park space and social reform in urban
development and Cornell’s themes could be a late manifestation of this.

Downing’s ideas certainly carried through to Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr.,
70
and Calvert Vaux
in their design for Central Park and other areas of the East Coast in the mid to late 19
th

Century, but this was a new concept just gaining momentum in California during the first
two decades of the 20
th
Century. The unrealized 1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew Plan for Los
Angeles that laid out an entire system of highly-connected regional park spaces also
evidenced the growing concern over the lack of park space in Southern California (Hise and
Deverell). Cornell was affiliated with the Olmsted family firm in his studies at Harvard in
the late 1910s, as well as in his partnership with Wilbur Cook and George Hall in the late
1920s. It is most curious to note, however, that Cornell’s design at Beverly Gardens could
be evaluated in the context of interactions that occurred with the Olmsted-Bartholomew
Plan. The report contained a specific reference to a proposed “narrow” parkway reservation
to be located in the immediate vicinity of Beverly Gardens, “…as a connecting link through
costly lands” (qtd. by Hise and Deverell 218). Olmsted and Bartholomew commented that,
“…The taking of land now should be sufficient to permit such changes within the park lands
when required”, which was actually the outcome in the creation of the strip park in Beverly
Hills (qtd. by Hise and Deverell 218). It is also noted that the Olmsteds worked on park
space and the citing of streetways north of Sunset Boulevard, 20 years earlier, in Cook’s

70
Thus, strengthening the interrelated Olmsted “family tree” (Birnbaum and Karson xxii).

85
original master plan for Beverly Hills (Wanamaker, Early Beverly Hills 57). In any case, in
their small, “interconnected” profession, it would seem that a dialogue did occur between
Cornell and the Olmsteds in their regional parkspace plan for Los Angeles, as Cornell
maintained a partnership with Cook (a former Olmsted Brothers employee) during the
development of the strip park at Beverly Hills and the regional park proposal was a major
City issue during 1927-1930, when the plan was being prepared. This Olmsted thread
continues throughout Cornell’s work in the cultural landscapes of Southern California.

In both of Cornell’s landscape interventions at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and
Beverly Gardens, it is clear that he believed that, through intelligent planning, green park
space had to be integrated with the layout of our urban areas and not thrown together as an
afterthought. Both of these early cultural landscapes still serve as a “gateway” for the cities
that they serve today and become a restorative element in what the inhabitants of San Diego
and Los Angeles perceive as everyday urban fabric.

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THE DRY GROUND PARK / A PLANTSMAN OF GREAT CONSEQUENCE
Cornell was a naturalist at heart. Growing up under the influences of Henry David Thoreau
and John Muir, Cornell had a deep appreciation for nature in its wildest element (R. Cornell,
Conspicuous California Plants ix). Cornell was curious and persistent in building a
comprehensive understanding of the natural landscape wherever he was and would have felt
a need to connect to the natural world in an urban context. His personal values on native
plants and the indigenous landscapes of Southern California carried into his professional
work.

Cornell was certainly influenced by California native plant proponent Theodore Payne in his
love and understanding of the regional native landscape systems of the Southland. Payne
remained a close friend and colleague to Cornell, as evidenced by their five-year business
partnership in the early 1920s, advocating early preservationist ideals for the native plants
and landscapes of Southern California. This is true for Cornell’s work at Torrey Pines: there
was an overarching theme of “restraint” in the three-part plan that outlined restrictions
against altering the original landscape, introducing non-indigenous plants and features, or
over-cultivating the Torrey pine to the exclusion of open spaces (Torrey Pines Assoc. par.
18). Similar to Cornell’s inspiration in his work with Cook, Hall, and Cornell at Beverly
Gardens, Payne played an important role in Cornell’s larger concepts at Torrey Pines.

Cornell and Payne were originally introduced under the botanic tutelage of Professor Baker
at Pomona College, another significant character in shaping Cornell’s ideas about how plants
might and might not work in the cultural landscapes of Southern California. Under Baker’s
87
direction, Cornell’s endeavors in “economic botany”
71
and experimental agriculture at
Pomona College also introduced him to the tangible incentives associated with the use of
native and drought-tolerant species and, consequently, the devastating effects sometimes
associated with non-indigenous species. In Cornell’s early article that introduces “dry
ground parks”, he describes significant cost savings benefits associated with the water
conservation and decreased maintenance requirements of using native plant species
(“Wanted: A Genuine Southern California Park” 305). He also believed that designers
would reap the most efficiency with plants that inherently perform better in this
environment (301). This prescient understanding of the ecological function of plants also
seemed to anticipate the ideas of landscape ecology and sustainability that would become
critical discourse in the role of landscape architecture today.

Aside from his interactions with Professor Baker and his partnership with Payne, Cornell
had built an impressive horticultural foundation related to his own studies and through other
miscellaneous associations with horticulturalists such as Guy Fleming, Dr. Franceschi,
Manfred Meyberg, Kate Sessions, and other nurserymen and plant specialists. A level of
“interconnectedness” seems to exist within the more specific horticultural profession,
playing an important role in the scientific experimentation that was occurring at the time.
Cornell spoke fondly of all of these great plantsmen (and women) of the day.

71
It is also of interest to note that Downing was an early advocate for publicly supported agricultural education, as a
matter of aesthetics and degradation in rural economies (Birnbaum and Karson 96-97). Thus, another parallel is drawn
between Cornell and Downing in their interest regarding economic plants.

88
In the sense that Cornell had the intuitive ability to “see” distinctive character and ascribe
value in the native features of the landscapes as a designer, Cornell draws many strong
parallels with both William Robinson and Jens Jensen. Robinson and Jensen, like Cornell,
were both prescient in their discovery of the original landscape. Like Andrew Jackson
Downing and his potential influence on Cornell, Jensen and Robinson were slightly ahead of
Cornell’s time. They were champions of regional indigenous plants and the concept of using
natural landscape characteristics for artistic expression, and they questioned the use of
imported plants and formal style in landscape design. Cornell would most likely have been
aware of both of their work given such aligned interests, however, little tangible proof was
found to support the idea that Cornell actually studied or had a direct connection with either
of them.

More specifically, Robinson was an Irish-born, self-proclaimed “wild gardener” who
practiced in England and philosophized that landscapes should harmonize with nature,
rather than compete with it (Jellicoe and Jellicoe 261 and 276). He was often associated with
Gertrude Jekyll in championing the native English Cottage Garden. Though Robinson
never practiced in America, there are a few speculative bridges between he and Cornell.
Perhaps the strongest connection lies in Cornell’s affiliation to Englishman Theodore Payne,
who would have been a younger boy when Robinson’s ideas about native landscapes were
being popularized through his publications. Payne took a noted interest in plants at a very
young age, due to the influence of his mother, so this connection is feasible. Payne also
might have been aware of Robinson’s work via the designs of Gertrude Jekyll. In a more
direct way, Cornell might have come across Robinson’s work during his time in Europe
89
during World War I. In a more indirect way, Cornell also often quoted Humphrey Repton
in his lectures and writings, thus Cornell had a specific interest in English landscape design,
even if he never specifically made reference to Robinson.

Jensen was a Danish-born landscape designer that relocated to America and settled in
Illinois, where he became passionate about the native flora and landscapes of the Midwest
(Birnbaum and Karson 203-208). Related to the “prairie school” of design, Jensen’s
philosophies related forms and materials within the context of the surrounding native
landscape to evoke a deep emotional response (Birnbaum and Karson 204). Jensen also
believed in the highly influential qualities of direct environmental experience, as exhibited in
the folk school, The Clearing, in northern Wisconsin that he founded before he passed away.
This vivid idea of how environment can directly influence development – the “intellectual
plane” – is shared with Ralph Cornell. Aside from this, Cornell seemed similar to Jensen in
the dual-natured structure of his career – as a plantsman and a high designer - as well, with
an “obvious continuum between design and conservation” (Birnbaum and Karson 204).
More specifically, Cornell could have encountered the work of Jensen in the Midwest when
he was briefly working in Toronto, Canada. Reference has also been made to Jensen’s
associations with the social reformers in Chicago, which brings us back to the Olmsted
“family tree” (Birnbaum and Karson xxii; Birnbaum and Karson 204). The only other
speculative bridge between Cornell and Jensen seems to be that Jensen made almost yearly
trips to visit his son in Southern California during much of the 1920s (Grese 29 Mar. 2010).
It is assumed that in these travels, he often saw Wilhelm Miller, a former University of
Illinois Extension Landscape Architect who had retired to Southern California, and
90
confirmed that he frequently stopped by Taliesin West to see Frank Lloyd Wright in Arizona
(Grese 29 Mar. 2010). With such “interconnectedness” in the small profession of landscape
architecture and given that they were in the same place at the same time, it is not erroneous
to believe that Jensen and Cornell would have met at some point, particularly since they both
had connections to the Olmsted family.

Aside from these speculative influences and connections, Cornell was not a purist in his
advocacy for native plants and landscapes. Although he includes some elements of drought-
tolerant design in his design of Beverly Gardens, it is neither a replica of the original
landscape nor strict in use of native species. Cornell did see an original landscape fast
disappearing and recognized the need for nature in our increasingly urban fabric. In this
case, he embraced the invented landscape, as opposed to the landscape as a found-object at
Torrey Pines. It may be seen as a move to find something decidedly typical of that particular
place. Furthermore, like Theodore Payne, Cornell had interludes with non-indigenous
species such as the eucalyptus and many of the agricultural crops being developed at the
time. He witnessed firsthand how these species would perform in a foreign land and at what
cost, just as every great plantsman of the time. If nothing else, Cornell consistently
emanated the simplistic beauty of the natural landscape in his design. He valued the
originality of “place”, even if a landscape was not “purely” indigenous. Cornell frequently
quoted Humphrey Repton in his work and seemed to follow in practice (“Beauty as a Factor
in Education” 3):
Insult not Nature with absurd expense
Nor spoil her simple charms by vain pretense;
Weigh well the subject, be with caution bold,
Profuse of genius, not profuse of gold.
91

In a larger sense, Cornell’s command of both native and non-native species in his park space
at Torrey Pines and Beverly Gardens demonstrated his rigorous understanding of the natural
systems of the Southern California region. He promoted the importance of this theme
throughout his career. He consistently understood how parks would shift and change with
social pressures, as well as how people would value their connection to the natural world
within the park when the urban fabric around it might be disorienting. He played a major
role in the long-range planning and evolution of this park we see today.
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A LANDSCAPE THAT IS, IN FACT, “GENUINE”
The highly malleable landscape of Southern California, the struggle for balance between
nature and artificiality, the civic-minded foresight to plan for greatness in urban destiny, and
the “interconnectedness” of the small landscape architecture and horticultural profession all
contributed to the manifestations of park space at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and
Beverly Gardens. However, these cultural landscapes designed by Ralph Cornell are most
significant in his legacy of revealing the distinct, authentic qualities that make for a deep
experience of each “place”. Each intervention was a specific reaction to that natural
environment and cultural context, as the balance between the two is the vital element of
urban habitation and quality of living in Southern California. He had created a new “home”.

Cornell understood that “copying” was no longer satisfying in the consequential hand of the
landscape architect (UCLA Oral History 16-17). The landscape had to fit a different, unique
condition: the condition of Southern California. He argued that architecture had adapted to
conditions and was strongly influenced by the background of the people who came over
from the old country, but soon became modified by the new way of life and the new climatic
environment. He wrote, “…as they were adaptations to a different period, they were
successful. If they were merely copies they didn’t fit in, and they didn’t live. …There’s a
basic simplicity and directness to that which is beautiful.” (UCLA Oral History 16-17).

In Southern California, this invented landscape is as much a part of our mental construct as
the natural landscape, itself. In that sense, the invented landscape has become “genuine”. It
demonstrates the constant struggle in development – between nature and artificiality. As
93
Cornell has exhibited, if we design successfully within this realm of where cultural layering
and the natural environment meet, we are able to create legibility in the “urban threshold”.
It is a place to which people can relate and it guides us in the everyday fabric of our cities.
This legibility helps us to understand ourselves. If we are unable to understand or value
these spaces around us, we lose our sense of identity and place. As we evaluate how to
reveal this voice within our cultural landscapes of today, Cornell’s work becomes important
to consider in the context of contemporary discourse on landscape architecture, as outlined
in the following section.
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CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION
Eighty to ninety years later, the fact that Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve (see fig. 16) and
Beverly Gardens (see fig. 17) remain largely intact proves the resiliency of the parks that
Ralph Cornell envisioned for Southern California. Cornell was similar to other important
regional landscape architects such as Lockwood de Forest, Edward Huntsman-Trout, and
Florence Yoch in that he had the courage and willingness to define the vernacular landscape
with regional appropriateness that responded to the conditions of the time. As they were
created with high idealism, an immense sense of civic duty, and hard-headed foresight, both
Torrey Pines and Beverly Gardens were positioned for success. Yet, there is still a
discernable aesthetic that recalls Cornell’s early ideas and how people have consequently
valued these places. Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and Beverly Gardens respectively
represent two very different types of parks (parks as both “found” and highly-designed) and
two different urban fabrics of Southern California (San Diego and Los Angeles). As these
cities have developed, people still use and maintain both spaces. These urban parks force us
to take notice of each environment and how it embodies the people and landscape of
Southern California.

However, it is concerning that the voice of Ralph Cornell is not well known or widely
understood. Charles Birnbaum, Founder and President of The Cultural Landscape
Foundation, describes this phenomenon as the “invisible hand” of the landscape architect
72

(Birnbaum “History and Preservation of 1960s Landscapes”). Cornell has shaped numerous
cultural landscapes that are alive within the consciousnesses of Southern Californians, but

72
This “invisible hand” often exists in the shadow of the “starchitect” (Birnbaum 24 Mar. 2010).

95
countless people do not even know that he existed.
73
The invisibility of many cultural
landscapes and the landscape architects who created them relates specifically to “value”, in
the sense that if there is no value associated with a place, it is unseen to us (Birnbaum
“History and Preservation of 1960s Landscapes”). There is recent momentum in the
treatment of American cultural landscapes that supports the concept of a “shared value
system”, where a seamless dialogue occurs between architecture and landscape and, further,
landscape is put on an equal stage (Birnbaum “History and Preservation of 1960s
Landscapes”). Birnbaum argues that the key to ascribing value to our cultural landscapes lies
in studying, disseminating information, and understanding the “iconic masterworks of
design”, such as those by Ralph Cornell, or these landscapes will perish (Birnbaum “History
and Preservation of 1960s Landscapes”). As Cornell suggested, we must teach people to
“see” and rediscover these landscapes, thus raising awareness and stewardship for them.
The task is to think about what each landscape tells us about the past, what values we place
on these landscapes to guide how they change today, and how we can transition these
landscapes into the future (Birnbaum “History and Preservation of 1960s Landscapes”). In
this sense, we can consider how to use historic landscape designation as a tool in the holistic
approach to preserving our heritage. As the context and evolution of Cornell and his early
career have already been evaluated, we must consider his cultural landscapes in the context
of today and how they can guide change for tomorrow.

73
One undisclosed park official interviewed in the course of this study actually disagreed that a man named Ralph
Cornell worked on the park space at all.

96

Figure 16. View from Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve today. Source: Personal Library.

97

Figure 17. View of electric fountain from within Beverly Gardens today. Source: Personal Library.
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CONTINUITY / “GENUINE” CULTURAL LANDSCAPES FOR TODAY
To understand the “genuine” cultural landscapes of Ralph Cornell, there must be a solid
understanding of how we value authenticity today. University of California Berkeley
architectural design scholar Nezar AlSayyad first reminds us that cultural landscapes are the
“material result of human interaction with the natural landscape”, which, he argues, provide
rich raw data to study human behavior (AlSayyad 9). Thus, there is both an ecological and
cultural component to authenticity in the context of cultural landscapes. Urban design
scholar Nan Ellin furthers this concept in saying that authenticity “…is responsive to
community needs and tastes, which have to do with local climate, topography, history, and
culture” (Ellin 103).

Yet, Ellin argues that urban inhabitants yearn for authenticity because “themed”, “pre-
packaged” environments of a fantasy world are increasingly difficult not to experience (107).
The term “genuine” implies the search for a deeply aesthetic experience. As deeply aesthetic
experiences are threatened by “anaesthetics” in the face of rapid globalization and a higher
degree of artificiality, dissatisfaction and indifference detach us from a sense of place in
urban living (qtd. by Ellin 107). Anesthetic experiences contribute to her concept of the
“blasé cosmopolitan”, about whom she writes (98):
…is at home everywhere and nowhere; who believes everything and nothing; who is
good at dispassion but not at involvement; who is rendered indifferent due to
overstimulation; and who may feel numb much of the time, either afraid of or
unaccustomed to feeling deeply.

Consequently, this idea “…incite(s) a widespread and far-reaching search for distinction and
validation, for intense feeling, for sincerity and honesty, and for meaningful connections”
(111). As the modern era has often severed these experiences in the cultural landscape, our
99
search for something “genuine” in the present moment reflects a desire for
“interconnectedness” with the natural world in the face of artificiality (114 and 144). Ralph
Cornell’s work at Torrey Pines and Beverly Hills creates these desired connections through
vivid, direct experience, thereby, helping inhabitants to stay grounded in the urban realm of
San Diego and Los Angeles.

Like Ellin, AlSayyad also evaluates the balance and connections between nature and
artificiality in our daily experiences in the context of “tradition”. He speaks of the
“messiness” of real cities and reminds us that (26):
…the end of tradition does not come when a highly circumscribed utopia ceases to
exist; rather, it comes when we realize that tradition is what we make and sustain
everyday and everywhere through the occasionally contemptuous act of living.

Even in the messiness of contemporary urban cities, AlSayyad highlights the importance of
distinctiveness and place (AlSayyad 9). However, he also argues that place is not a “static
authoritative legacy” (23). In the widely diverse culture and natural landscape of Southern
California, tradition surfaces in transient, fleeting, and contingent moments. Here, in our
highly “borrowed’ and exotic landscape, tradition is often found in costume, which renders
the distinction between fake and real as meaningless. The simulation may become the “real”
in and of itself (AlSayyad 23). The memory and symbol of something, rather than the real
thing itself, become more “genuine”. Although Torrey Pines is more natural in character
and Beverly Gardens exhibits a more formal transformation from the original landscape,
Ralph Cornell’s park spaces maintain balance and the connection between nature and
artificiality in each and uphold tradition by creating distinct places in our everyday spaces of
living.
100

In a similar discussion on nature, artificiality, and bioregional authenticity, Robert Thayer
poses the question “where are we?” (Thayer 1). Without a fundamental realization of where
we are, he argues, human meaning is not stable and the logic of our own being collapses. We
become “homeless”. He writes (2):
…In the process of becoming postmodern, we have abandoned the notion of
“home” and like innocent natives presented with beads and trinkets of shining luster
and unfamiliar purpose, we have surrendered our former homelands to the new gods
of consumerism, transience, shallow information, global communication, and ever-
expanding technology. We are trained in schools and universities to “become”
before we “locate”. The ends of these hopeless wanderings, in terms of both
purpose and place, very often elude us…The question “where are we?” has a deep,
sustaining ring to it.

Thayer believes that with increased severance from nature, there is a subsequent loss of
community, identity, purpose, and sense of place. He concludes that, “…To a great extent,
we have forgotten where we live because we have ignored the natural dimension of the land”
(Thayer 8). However, he is hopeful in the simultaneous movement towards “relocalization”
with bioregion or “life-place” that would allow for graceful human life on earth (3-4). Once
again, Ralph Cornell cultivates a distinct sense of “where we are” at Torrey Pines and
Beverly Gardens by creating unique “gateways” that we continue to value and identify with
its respective urban place.

Cornell’s early cultural landscapes create the deeply aesthetic experience described by Nan
Ellin above. You can feel it in the breeze off the ocean that shapes the habit and growth of
the Torrey pine. You can feel it as you move through the shadows of the elms in the
walkway that threads through the strip park at Beverly Gardens. Yet, Cornell’s early work
also symbolizes AlSayyad’s notion of tradition: Torrey Pines and Beverly Gardens each
101
maintain a very distinctive identity that reveals the essence of place. Finally, the park spaces
crafted by Cornell embody the very “life-place” of Southern California. The soul and
character captured by Cornell’s early work renders authenticity in his cultural landscapes.

102
TRAJECTORY / PRESERVING A GREAT LEGACY FOR TOMORROW
Nan Ellin argues that sustainability is not possible without a sense of place (Ellin 102). By
definition, cultural landscapes signify cultural and ecological necessity to ensure continuity.
In that context, cities are only sustainable, are only able to thrive, when there is a
connectedness and successful interdependency between culture and nature (Ellin 1 and 7).
Hough also cites cultural and ecological necessity as vital within the notion of sustainability
and the organizing framework for growth, outlining a 21
st
Century plan for a rewarding
environment where nature and urbanism co-exist and connect (Hough 1-3). Hough further
believes that urban parks present the strongest source for an environmental message, which
could be found in direct experience, which proves to have lasting educational value (Hough
260).

Ellen also argues that sustenance is not enough for our daily lives. She writes (145), “…If
our places are to sustain us, they must, of course, offer clean air and water along with other
essentials for survival. However, if that is all they offer, we will only survive” (Ellin 145).
Although she was making her argument for the five qualities she defined in the premise of
her work entitled Integral Urbanism, an argument can be made that genuine/authentic
integration “…can offer the soul food necessary for our cities and communities to blossom
and truly thrive” Ellin 145).

More so, now, than ever, the early cultural landscapes of Ralph Cornell must become more
sustainable, as well as self-sustaining. Aside from the continual threat of urban
encroachment, the current economic downturn has left many parks with budget cuts,
103
furloughs, service reductions, and a decrease in overall city maintenance, such as the case
with Torrey Pines (“Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve” par. 4). At Beverly Gardens, most
of the larger elements are still in place, but several plant species aren’t consistent with
Cornell’s original design because they do not have the money to train people to have the
horticultural expertise to maintain the plants accordingly (Clark 6 Mar. 2010). With an
overall lack of funding to support our urban park systems, we look to our existing parks, and
more specifically, to these spectacular regional examples of park space, as exhibited by
Cornell, and consider how we could protect and ensure their vitality. As landscape architect
James Corner emphasizes, “…large parks are integral to the fabric of cities and metropolitan
areas, providing diverse, complex, and delightfully engaging outdoor spaces for a broad
range of people and constituencies” (Corner 11). Within park-poor metropolises such as
Los Angeles, these park spaces become even more critical. As our local identity shifts and
swells and often eludes us momentarily, these park spaces serve to orient us in the chaos of
our urban land. The rejuvenating effects of Cornell’s park spaces can be found very deeply
through direct experience, forging a great sense of identity and meaning to the site, yet also
being of great civic and ecological utility in the larger lived-in landscape of Southern
California. We must weave green park space into the urban fabric of our lives.

Returning to Cornell’s story about the elderly woman that he encountered in the remote
mountains of France during World War I and the idea of “la belle californie”, “…what a
responsibility we have to maintain this tradition of a fair and lovely land” (R. Cornell,
Conspicuous California Plants xx). As the pine trees react to beetle infestations at Torrey Pines
and the wisteria disappears in Beverly Gardens, the sobering ephemerality of landscape
104
becomes apparent. Landscapes are far more difficult to quantify than fixed structures in that
they fluctuate and are dynamic. As Cornell told us 80 years ago, landscape architects must
find a way to understand the flux of these systems and still transcribe meaning to a landscape
so that it may effectively interpret a site. Cultural landscapes provide a collective identity of
our relationship with land over time. Thus, we must consider and plan for the long-term
management of these spaces for future generations. It is our responsibility to safeguard
these places with perpetual care and interpretation, both as evidence of our origins and to
place it within the context of our future.

Preserving our landscape heritage presents very real opportunity for understanding the
physical manifestation of the land and re-envisioning how these spaces fit within the context
of our cities. It suggests a perspective of continuing presence. Without consideration of the
passage of time and the dynamic circumstances of place, these landscapes could be lost. In
preserving our own landscape heritage, we must remember the voice of Ralph Dalton
Cornell. We must not overshadow his “invisible hand”.

In a more specific evaluation of understanding past, valuing today, and transitioning into
tomorrow, historic preservation economist Donovan Rypkema argues that differentiation is
the ultimate monetary premium for the preservation of our historic resources (Rypkema 1-
6). He paraphrased Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, relating Marco Polo’s account to Kublai
Khan that recounted stories of the supposed cities in Khan’s vast empire, which the reader
eventually comes to realize are together merely aspects of one city: Venice. In depicting one
particular place, the city of Trude, Marco Polo described it as lacking any sort of
105
distinctiveness from the cities from which he had just traveled – everything was the same
with absolutely no difference, with no change or surprise in character at all. Even though he
had never traveled to that city before, he related that “…(he) already knew the hotel where
(he) happened to be lodged; (he) had already heard and spoken (his) dialogues with the
buyers and sellers of hardware; (he) had ended other days identically, looking through the
same goblets at the same swaying navels” (Rypkema 5). As Marco Polo described this city to
Kublai Khan, detail-by-detail, he related the monotonous, lifeless concept of a
“world…covered by sole Trude which does not begin and does not end” (Rypkema 5).
Although Rypkema was relating this anecdote to the powerful economic argument for the
investment of historic structures, it may be universally applied to the argument of the
cultural necessity for authenticity in the design and planning of the Southern California
landscape: to avoid a world covered by a sole Trude without beginning and without end.

In the absence of distinctiveness and that which is “genuine” or authentic in the landscapes
of Southern California, “places” become sterile representations of what we ought to be
rather than a real, complex, eloquent, or even gritty cultural reflection of what we actually
are. The historic cultural landscapes that tell of our collective identity and history make a
place interesting; they make a place vital. In Ralph Cornell’s own “voice” as he ruminated
about a cultural landscape within Southern California
74
, “…It goes to show how fleeting
these bits of artificial man-made glory can be. They are the sparkle and kaleidoscope of life
and development” (UCLA Oral History 351). As authenticity has the capacity to create
legibility in our surroundings, we are able to place our cultural being within the natural

74
Cornell was describing the Dan Murphy Estate on Adams Street in Los Angeles, done in association with the Olmsted
Brothers, Wilbur Cook, and later Florence Yoch and Lucille Council.

106
world. The deep connection to place afforded by “genuine” cultural landscapes results in
greater urban resilience and ultimately leads to the perfect kaleidoscope of life.
107
AREAS FOR FUTURE ENQUIRY
Through the course of this study, several interesting questions were raised in regards to how
to better understand both the cultural landscapes of Southern California and the work of
Ralph Dalton Cornell. Of general interest, it is curious to note that preservation (in the
sense of historic preservation) was once very closely aligned with conservation and it would
be interesting to study how this evolved. In Cornell’s early work, both Rancho Los Cerritos
and Pomona College stand as excellent examples of further study, as well. Branching off
from both of these projects, other courses of interest may be to compare the cultural
landscapes of Rancho Los Cerritos with nearby Rancho Los Alamitos, or to evaluate all of
Cornell’s major college campuses, such as Pomona College, University of California at Los
Angeles, and University of Hawaii. As previously mentioned, Cornell’s relation to Jens
Jensen and William Robinson could be a fascinating topic of discussion. And of course,
there is certainly more enquiry to be made into how the 1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew might
have interacted with Cornell’s work on the strip park in Beverly Hills. Finally, as a sort of
extension of Victoria Padilla’s book Southern California Gardens, a comprehensive study into
the “interconnectedness” of all of the regional landscape architects of Southern California
during this early period of time in California would help us to better understand the places
around us and help us transition them into the future.

108
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Abstract (if available)

Abstract Defined by the National Park Service as “a geographic area, including both cultural and natural resources…associated with a historic event, activity, or person or exhibiting other cultural or aesthetic values”, cultural landscapes are a physical manifestation of how we confer social meaning and perceive ourselves within the structure of the natural world. As cultural landscapes embody our legacy and have the potential to invoke a deep sense of place in an increasingly urbanized world, our decisions as landscape architects consequentially shape how they are understood, valued, and transitioned into the future. As we determine what voice to reveal and what constitutes authenticity in the cultural landscapes of Southern California, the early work of Ralph Dalton Cornell is particularly telling. In 1912, at the age of 22, Ralph Dalton Cornell published an article in the Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany entitled “Wanted: A Genuine Southern California Park”, in which he was far ahead of his time for championing the concepts of providing park space in intelligent city planning, understanding and promoting the native landscape of Southern California, and demanding the notion of distinctiveness in landscape design. In this study, the term “genuine” is evaluated through the lens of Cornell’s professional evolution and early work in the context of the Southern California region, with in depth case studies provided for his work at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve on the northern City limits of San Diego and Beverly Gardens in the City of Beverly Hills just west of downtown Los Angeles. Ralph Cornell’s work is then reinterpreted through contemporary concepts of authenticity, legibility, sustainability, and urban vitality. Through this discourse, we get a sense of how these cultural landscapes are important, how they contribute to our cities today, and how they may be preserved and interpreted as our heritage for future generations.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Owens, Larkin Minnie (author)

Core Title In search of a “genuine” Southern California park: evaluating the early cultural landscapes of Ralph Cornell for today

School School of Architecture

Degree Master of Landscape Architecture

Degree Program Landscape Architecture

Publication Date 05/07/2010

Defense Date 04/01/2010

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag authenticity,Beverly Gardens,cultural landscape preservation,genuine,Landscape,Landscape architecture,OAI-PMH Harvest,Ralph Cornell,Southern California,Torrey Pines

Place Name California (states), southern California (region)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Berney, Rachel (committee chair), Breisch, Kenneth A. (committee member), Harris, Robert (committee member), Tichenor, Brian (committee member)

Creator Email larkinowens@hotmail.com,lowens@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m3041

Unique identifier UC1147379

Identifier etd-Owens-3563 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-338232 (legacy record id),usctheses-m3041 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Owens-3563.pdf

Dmrecord 338232

Document Type Thesis

Rights Owens, Larkin Minnie

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu