Ferruccio Vitale

Ferruccio Vitale (1875-1933) was a landscape architect. Born in Italy, he became a United States citizen in 1921. The historian Terry R. Schnadelbach considered him to be "America's forgotten landscape architect."

Life

Vitale was born in Florence, Italy on February 5, 1875, the son of Lazzaro Vitale and his wife, the Countess Giuseppina Barbaro Vitale. The father was an engineer, and in 1893, the son graduated from the Royal military school in Modena with a degree in engineering. After graduating, he enlisted as an officer in the Italian army. Resigning from this position, he later studied to become a landscape designer in Florence, Turin and Paris. In 1902, he moved from Genoa to New York, where he joined the firm of Parsons & Pentecost as a landscape architect. In 1908, he formed a partnership with Alfred Geiffert, and in 1911, he acquired his first major commission: the Red Maples estate in Southampton, New York.

Vitale was a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (he became a fellow in 1908), the Architectural League of New York, and the Municipal Art Society. He served on the Fine Arts Commission of New York City, the American Academy in Rome, and the Foundation for Architecture and Landscape Architecture. He was an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects, and belonged to various New York social clubs.

Works Millrose, Rodman Wanamaker Estate, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, 1907 Westbrook Farm, Estate of Charles I. Hudson, Long Island, 1907-1916 Red Maples, Mrs. Alfred M. Hoyt Residence, Southampton, Long Island, 1911-1913 Cherrycroft, Estate of Dudley Olcott, New Jersey, 1911-1912 Brookside, Estate of William Hall Walker, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, 1912-1918. "Ferruccio Vitale created for Mr. Walker his Walled Garden, it was unhesitatingly pronounced one of the gems of this country" Longwood, Estate of Pierre S. du Pont, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, 1915 The Oasis, Estate of Francis E. Dreary, Cleveland, Ohio, 1916-1917 Villa Carola and Trillora Court, Estates of Isaac Guggenheim and Solomon R. Guggenheim, Port Washington, Long Island, 1916-1924 Allgates, Estate of Horatio Gates Lloyd, Haverford, Pennsylvania Rosemary, Estate of Jay F. Carlisle, Long Island, 1917-1921 The Bather, Estate of Carl J. Schmidlapp, Mill Neck, Long Island, 1920 Inisfada, Estate of Nicholas F. Bradly, Long Island, 1920-1924 Centaurs, Estate of Alfred E. Hamill, Illinois, 1920-1927 Villa Virginia, Estate of William H. Clarke, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1921 Arthur Vining Davis Estate, Oyster Bay, Long Island, 1922 Century Country Club, New York, 1922-1923 Underhill Farm, Estate of Myron Charles Taylor, Locust Valley, Long Island, 1922-1924 Chelsea, Estate of Benjamin and Alexandra Emery Moore, Long Island, 1924 Mrs. I. Dodge Sloane Estate, Long Island, c. 1924 Edward Schwab Estate, New Jersey, c. 1924 Garden Village, Master Plan for Scarsdale, New York, 1924-1926 Village Green for Town Bettermerst, House and Garden, June 1926 Airdrie House, Estate of Edwin A. Fish, Locust Valley, Long Island, 1926-1927 Thorneham, Estate of Landon Ketchum Thorne, Long Island, 1926-1932 Richard B. and Jenny King Mellon Estate, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1927 Cherrywood, Estate of John A. Victor, Locust Valley, Long Island, 1927-1928 Donald Grant Gaddes Estate, Glen Cove, Long Island, 1927-1930 Four Winds, Estate of Gerald Beekman Hoppin, Oyster Bay Cove, Long Island, 1927-1932 Pretty Brook Farm, Princeton Day School, Princeton, New Jersey 1928-1929 South Campus, University of Illinois, Illinois, 1928-1931 Anthony Campagna Estate, Riverdale, New York, 1929-1934 Sandy Cay, Estate of Condé Montrose Nast, Long Island, 1930 Zalmon G. Simmons Estate, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1930 Ca Sole, Estate of Horace and Jean Schmidlapp, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1930 Mrs. Kersey Coates Reed Estate, Lake Forest, Illinois, 1930 Washington Monument Gardens, Washington, D.C., 1930-1931 Century of Progress Exposition, Chicago, Illinois, 1930-1934 National Mall, Washington, D.C., 1932 Meridian Hill Park, Washington, D.C., 1932 Francis J. Allen Residence, Greenwich, Connecticut, 1932-1934 Skylands Farm, Estate of Clarence McKenzie Lewis, New Jersey, 1932-1933 National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1932-1940 Canterbury Farm, Estate of Albert E. Pierce, Virginia, 1933-1934 Exhibition Gardens, American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation, Century of Progress Exposition, Chicago, Illinois, 1934 Women in Military Service for America Memorial, Memorial Avenue at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, Connecticut

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