Lakewold Gardens

History of the Gardens

Nestled between Puget Sound and Mount Rainier in the Lakes District south of Tacoma, Lakewold Gardens boasts near-perfect growing conditions in a temperate climate that has been called "a gardener's paradise." With care and skill many of the world's choicest plants can be grown here.

The nearby Cascade Mountains capture moisture borne inland by warm Pacific winds. The moisture is held frozen in snowfields, until drier summer days. It then melts to return to the sea, bathing and nourishing the diverse plant life of the Puget Sound region.

Nisqually Indians once roamed these vast prairies, harvesting roots of the native camas lilies. In pioneer days the Lakes District was claimed by the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, a subsidiary of Britain's Hudson's Bay Company. Sheep grazed on the lush prairie grass and drank from the spring-fed lakes.

After the turn of the century, leaders of Tacoma's vigorous business community found a retreat in the scenic Lakes District and established expansive country estates away from the bustle of the city. Growing conditions and a fine social climate combined to give birth to Lakewold.

In 1908 Emma Alexander knew a good piece of property when she saw one. Streetcars provided easier access to the Lakes District; and when Interlaaken was platted, Emma bought Lot 23 and built a small summer cabin on the property between 1910 and 1912. It was a shingled two-story cross-gabled house showing Craftsman style influences. Large colonnaded porches with a balustrade fronted the east and north sides of the house with an entry porch on the west and a porte-cochere on the north facade. The roof had a deep overhang, with clipped gables and exposed brackets. Photographs show shingle siding. The windows were double-hung: 12, 8, or 6 over one, depending on the width of the window, with wide board trim and rip cap, painted white or a light color. The windows appear to have been frequently paired or ganged on each of the facades except the south, where historic photographs show at least three windows on the ground floor and five on the second floor. A light colored splashboard trimmed the exterior walls at their base. Interior photographs show a boxed beam ceiling in the living room and picture rails and broad trimmed doorframes in the living room and dining rooms. The gardens were already locally famous in 1913, as the Tacoma Daily Register headlined "Nature-loving Tacomans make modern Arcady of Gravelly Lake's Shores" (11/30/1913). Mrs. Alexander was an active garden club member in Tacoma, and had a rose named for her, the climbing "Ruth Alexander".

Emma transferred her lakeside property to her son, Hubbard Foster (H.F.) Alexander, and his wife, Ruth, in 1918. He was a shipping magnate, being the president of America's largest steamship company providing luxury passenger service, the Admiral Lines. Hubbard Foster and Ruth had a house in Tacoma at Fifth and Yakima, and used the house at Gravelly Lake as a country retreat. The Alexander's bought an adjoining 5-acre lot, creating the 10 acres that Lakewold enjoys today, and hired designers to lay out the home and gardens to capture views of Gravelly Lake and Mount Rainier. The family entertained at the lakeside estate with lawn parties and family weddings. Ruth named the estate "Inglewood".

The Olmsted's, one of America's most prestigious landscape design teams, developed many projects in the Seattle-Tacoma area in the early 1900's. It is believed that the Olmstead brothers designed the perimeter fence, gate (built between 1914 and 1918) and brick walkway. The wrought iron entrance gate in an open scroll design, flanked by an eagle with wings spread on each gatepost, and the glacier rock pillars are original, while the wood posts and rails are a restoration of the original form and dimensions.

Major Everett Griggs and his wife, Grace, purchased the property in 1925 and the property was renamed "Lakewold," a Middle English term meaning "lake-woods."

In 1938 the Griggs sold Lakewold to George Corydon and Eulalie Wagner. He was the son of a prominent Tacoma physician, the Vice President and Treasurer of the St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber company, as well as President of the C.W. Griggs Investment company and the Wilkeson Company, which was in coal production. She was the daughter of a prominent Seattle lumber family, the Merrill's, and is well remembered for her dedication and her contributions to the practice of landscape gardening, epitomized by Lakewold Gardens. Eulalie was a member of the Board of Directors of the Garden Club of America from 1962 to 1966. She was also instrumental to the foundation of the Tacoma Art Museum, where she served as President of the Board of Directors. She was also a director of the Seattle Art Museum. Corydon and Eulalie both loved being outdoors in the garden, and neighbors and family enjoyed parties at Lakewold.

Either the Griggs, or, more likely, the Wagner's did away with the porte-cochere, and replaced it with an arched colonnade on the north side of the house. The photographic evidence only goes so far as to indicate that the colonnade was added before the radical renovations of the late 1950's that changed the house to a Georgian revival style with an elegantly finished interior.

In 1958 Thomas Church, one of America's finest landscape architects, came to Lakewold on his first visit to the Pacific Northwest. Church returned regularly to suggest refinements to the garden design, stressing always the importance of drawing people into the garden.

Over the years Mrs. Wagner became an accomplished plant collector. She enjoyed working in the garden, propagating plants and supervising their progress.

Mrs. Wagner continued to live at Lakewold after the death of her husband in 1978. Then in 1987 she donated the entire estate to a new non-profit organization, The Friends of Lakewold, with the stipulation that an endowment fund be raised to assure the continuing care of the gardens. Lakewold Gardens was opened officially on May 7, 1989. Mrs. Wagner stated her motivation clearly. "As we become more and more city creatures, living in manmade surroundings, perhaps gardens will become even more precious to us, letting us remember that we began in the garden." Eulalie Wagner died in 1991, but her dream remains with us at Lakewold Gardens.

12317 Gravelly Lake Drive S.W. Lakewood WA 98499 ● Mailing Address: P.O. Box 39780 Lakewood WA 98496-3780