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Long Garden Legacy |
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Few gardens can compare with those of the rich and famous. Pierre du Pont created Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, and cement magnate Robert Pim Buchart started the garden that bears his name in British Columbia. Kansas City had a multimillionaire with gardens, too. In 1912, lumber baron R. A. Long built Kansas City’s first million-dollar home, a 70-room Beaux Arts mansion called Corinthian Hall. Its magnificent grounds complemented the adjacent colonnaded pergola and music pavilion at the entrance to Cliff Drive in Northeast Kansas City. This lovely public space was part of the celebrated City Beautiful Movement. Architect Henry Ford Hoit drew inspiration from this nearby park when he designed Mr. Long’s conservatory and pergola at 3218 Gladstone Boulevard. The wisteria-draped pergola was lined by clay pots filled with ornamental trees. The greenhouse was a riot of purple and white petunias in late winter, which were started indoors and transplanted to more than a dozen cut-stone planters in spring. The planters were perched atop 7-foot pedestals which surrounded the property at 30-foot intervals. In summer, the planters were adorned with geraniums and trailing ivy, and in fall they shone with bronze and golden mums. The surrounding grounds were laid out in formal displays of annuals. Today, the property is the home of the Kansas City Museum. Most of the grandeur of the garden is gone, but Corinthian Hall is still worth visiting, especially in springtime when the ancient wisteria still blooms on the recently-restored pergola. A stand of iris also thrives in front of the old stable. It’s believed that these flowers are descended from the originals planted by Loula Long Combs, Mr. Long’s youngest daughter. The crowning glory of the property is a pair of 7-ft. elaborately-ornamented marble urns, which frame the front entrance. They are a fitting first impression for this historic home. This spring, I volunteered to plant the large pedestal planters and urns – a job which required ladders and courage! The Shawnee Mission Garden Club provided beautiful wholesale plants, grown by horticulture students at K-State. The planters are now brimming with ivy geraniums, and spilling over with golden marguerite sweet potato vines. Giant elephant ears grace the center of each urn, creating a bold impact worthy of Corinthian Hall. About the same time he was building his mansion on Gladstone Boulevard, Mr. Long set his sights on a country estate in Lee’s Summit. Characteristically, he spared no expense, and according to one magazine, the result was “the world’s most beautiful farm.”
Dubbed Longview Farm, it was a demonstration project that raised prize hogs and Jersey cows. It was also a place for R. A. Long and daughter Loula to indulge their passion for horses. But Longview was also noted for its beautiful grounds. A huge sunken garden created a dramatic entry to the mansion, and the house itself was dripping with formal window boxes and planters. A rose walk arbor led to a pergola even more dramatic than the one at Corinthian Hall, and like its urban cousin, it was covered with wisteria. A large lily pond completed the pastoral scene.
Twenty-five miles of whitewashed fencing enclosed the 1780-acre property, and a staff of full-time gardeners planted the grounds lavishly. “Mrs. Combs was especially fond of iris,” according to Linda Mason, author of The Longview We Remember. “She even employed the children of the farm workers in little garden chores, and rewarded them with ice cream and quarters. She affectionately called them her ‘termites,’ and one of their main tasks was to divide her iris beds.” Wayne Vinyard, of Longview Gardens, was the greenhouse manager in the later years of the farm. In a recent interview, he explained the extent of the greenhouse operation. Cut flowers were sold in Kansas City markets, especially roses, carnations, and gardenias. Mrs. Combs liked to wear a gardenia corsage to church every week, and she always wore an orchid in the American Royal show ring. Today the Longview mansion and sunken gardens have been lovingly restored by developer Gale Communities, which also plans to refurbish the pergola and ponds. Frequently used for weddings, the mansion and grounds are the height of elegance from a bygone era. The R. A. Long Historical Society would like to relocate and restore the crumbling rose walk. “We are looking for rose experts, master gardeners doing community service, or anyone willing to wield a shovel to help us preserve these heirloom bushes and replant them on the grounds,” says Scott Coryell, an architect and resident of Gale’s New Longview community. “This is all part of a master planned community which seeks to honor the legacy of R. A. Long and Loula Long Combs.”
For more information, contact: R. A. Long Historical Society, Barbara Newcom, 6106 NE Kensington Dr., Lee’s Summit, MO 64064; or contact Tim Sullivan at 913-706-9628. |
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