Covin Tree: The Brewster Estate

Making It Home Nature By Design
Covin Tree: The Brewster Estate
Image Source: Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, Ryerson and Burnham Archives.

Image Source: Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, Ryerson and Burnham Archives.

Partial view of formal gardens at Covin Tree.

Partial view of formal gardens at Covin Tree.

Statue of St. Brigid, by Sylvia Shaw Judson, in niche of garden wall at Covin Tree.

Statue of St. Brigid, by Sylvia Shaw Judson, in niche of garden wall at Covin Tree.

Small garden pond with “Kneeling Girl” statue by Alfeo Faggi at Covin Tree.

Small garden pond with “Kneeling Girl” statue by Alfeo Faggi at Covin Tree.

Brewster Garden Plan: Topographical survey by James Anderson Company, surveyors of the Walter and Katherine Lancaster Brewster estate. The main house is on the right, a variety of gardens are west of the house. Image Source: Donnelley and Lee Library, Lake Forest College, Digital Collections.

Brewster Garden Plan: Topographical survey by James Anderson Company, surveyors of the Walter and Katherine Lancaster Brewster estate. The main house is on the right, a variety of gardens are west of the house. Image Source: Donnelley and Lee Library, Lake Forest College, Digital Collections.

Katherine Lancaster Brewster (1879-1947) and Walter Stanton Brewster (1872-1954).

Katherine Lancaster Brewster (1879-1947) and Walter Stanton Brewster (1872-1954).

Address: 20 W. Westminster, Lake ForestYear built: 1907Architect: Howard Van Doren ShawOriginal owners: Walter Stanton and Katherine Lancaster BrewsterThis Italian villa-like house is on the west side of a post-glacial pond, on land that was the former site of the Atteridge farm. Two complimentary gatehouses on the east side of the pond once flanked the original estate entrance off Green Bay Road.
The classical design of the house incorporates hip roofs, deep overhangs and an arched loggia at the entry. Rooms on the ground floor are accessible through a grand central hall; two wings surround an outdoor courtyard. The garden terrace has an open “court porch” below. Off the master bedroom on the second floor is another open terrace.
Olmsted Brothers laid the grounds of the estate. Kate Brewster created garden rooms in the manner of Gertrude Jekyll. These vignettes of seasonal blooms were off the west side of the house. From the back terrace there was a long view out to the Skokie lagoon.
The Brewsters were both patrons of the arts. Walter Brewster collected Whistler prints, now at the Art Institute of Chicago and their gardens displayed the work of Sylvia Shaw Judson, Carl Milles and Alfeo Faggi.