Pioneer Information
In 1914 landscape architect William Pitkin, Jr., partnered with his brother-in-law, civil engineer Seward Mott, to design a subdivision in Flint, Michigan. They continued to collaborate on subdivisions, improving Upper Arlington in Columbus, Ohio (originally planned by Pitkin in 1913), and designing Eclipse Park in Beloit, Wisconsin (1916). In 1919 the partners relocated from Rochester, New York to Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1923 incorporated the firm William Pitkin Jr. & Seward H. Mott – Landscape Architects. The firm designed estates and residential subdivisions throughout western New York and the Midwest, characterized by curvilinear roads, deep setbacks, and designated parkland. Several of the firm’s subdivisions, such as Avondale in Jacksonville, Florida, and Forest Glen Estates in Youngstown, Ohio, are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
In Cleveland the firm worked on projects in Rockefeller Park, Shaker Lakes, and Ambler Park; they also designed numerous estates in suburban communities such as Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, and estates along the Lake Erie shore. In 1926 the firm was engaged by Charles King to design his estate (now Kingwood Center), located in Mansfield, Ohio. They designed an extant formal garden, inspired by the Arts & Crafts style, and established informal groupings of trees along the property’s perimeter.
By the mid-1930s the firm disbanded, with Pitkin returning to Rochester to operate his family’s nursery and Mott moving to Washington, D.C., to promote national policies for neighborhood planning.
