Falmouth, ME (NEWS CENTER) -- Frederick Law Olmsted is generally considered the "Father of Landscape Architecture" in the United States. He designed everything from Central Park, Cal-Berkeley and the University of Maine.
He was also hired to landscape a home in Falmouth Foreside by the Payson family in the 1880's. Among his plantings was a European Linden tree believed to have been brought from England. The oral history of the property, shared by families which have owned it, says that the Linden was about 25 years old when planted around 1882.
In the great wind storm of 2017, the Linden, which had been pruned and propped up with cables and braces, finally succumbed to Mother Nature.
The Hoffman Family has donated the tree to local carver John Bryan. He is looking for partners to do a "Witness Tree" type project. He would like to find a school or other artists to work with the wood because of its historical significance.
The now sawed up Linden is at Bryan's studio in North Yarmouth, where he has been creating his beautiful art for forty years.