Client: Mather Homestead Foundation

A historic icon in Darien CT, the Mather Homestead has evolved from indigenous occupation to the turn of the twenty-first century. This National Historic Landmark property, and particularly the Colonial Revival house, is significant for its connection to Stephen Tyng Mather, who acted as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Interior and as the founding director of the National Park Service from 1915 to 1929. Through the landscape, the Mather Homestead Foundation aims to convey pluralistic narratives spanning centuries. Seamlessly integrating this place and programming with MHF objectives, Heritage Landscapes work will aid efforts to:

• Preserve historic landscape integrity by respecting character-defining features
• Enhance landscape access and experience with accessible walks and woodland trails
• Determine 15 locations for landscape interpretation
• Upgrade functions and address limited maintenance capability
• Integrate landscape best practices

MHF is pursuing initial projects of historic tree replacement, extending parking with ecological detailing, and welcoming visitors with the first phase of storytelling in the landscape. All implementation is to be guided by sustainable best practices aligned to addressing the global climate emergency, biodiversity crisis, and pollution challenges at the local level with place-based and community-oriented solutions.

Mather Homestead Cultural Landscape Report, Consultation on Next Steps

Heritage Landscapes

This MHCLR provides a deeply historically informed master plan, tracking more than 200 years of family life, investigating the historic and current landscape, analyzing continuity and change, determining the preservation direction, and setting forth preservation and sustainability recommendations to address the public uses and enjoyment of this important cultural landscape into the future.