Scope and Contents: The Clark B. Waterhouse Photograph Collection is comprised of 305 black and white photographs that were originally organized in a scrapbook. It is assumed that Waterhouse was the photographer of the collection, as the bulk of the photos are from a six-week trip he took with classmates and professors from the University of California (Berkeley) during the summer of 1916.
The collection primarily details the landscape designs of many famous California estates during the late 1910s, such as the Huntington Estate in Pasadena; the Peabody Estate in Montecito; the Crocker Estate in Burlingame; the Gillespie Estate in Santa Barbara; and the Silent Estate in San Gabriel Valley. Some of Waterhouse’s comments, such as “Poor arrangement of sidewalk and lawn;†“Example of spotted planting;†and “Planting to obtain axis and hide county road†reminds the researcher that the photo was taken by a student of landscape engineering who was interested in the preservation of forests and keeping the outdoors beautiful.
The subjects of the photographs include early Japanese gardens, estate gardens, garden statuary, courtyards, landscapes, fountains, pools, lily ponds, garden malls, houses, mansions, roadways, early subdivided neighborhoods, and garden architecture such as pergolas and arbors. Another subject covered in the photographs is the 1915 Panama-California Exposition that was held in San Diego, in which Waterhouse primarily took photos of the buildings and grounds. Other subjects in the photographs include a beach on La Jolla, a Greek temple in San Diego, and the great oak tree that stood near the Waterhouse home in Saratoga.
The arrangement of the collection was established by Waterhouse, when he placed all the photos in a scrapbook. The photos were carefully removed and numbered, but no other arrangement was imposed on the collection. Their arrangement in the finding aid reflects Waterhouse’s organization in the scrapbook, which does not seem to be chronological, topical or geographical.
Clark B. Waterhouse Photogr...
Subjects (links to similar collections)
