Preston: Jane's Retreat 051316

Preamble: I personally don't care for either the term 'man cave' or 'she shed' but when I first learned of Jane Preston's personal retreat (now that's my kind of word) the 'fad' term came to mind.

It’s been said that sheds are the answer to men’s ailments. But why should men have all the sheds? Every woman deserves a shed of her own — somewhere to retreat for some solitude, to create or grow, to write or paint, or just to enjoy the view.

Jane’s Cabin - a woman ahead of her time.
Hacienda: This is a one-room frame cabin approximately 25 feet by 25 feet, built circa 1954 in plywood in a clearing northeast of the main lab building. The name was derived from the Preston’s interest in and ownership of land in Arizona. 

The view through the trees from 
the main lab and upstairs apartment.

Two openings are on the west side. 

Each opening has a plywood panel that can be raised 

and secured to the rafters with an eye hook.

 The entrance is a 1950s aluminum storm door 

with side windows.

(the door was not in place at this time)

Also referred to as Jane’s Cabin, it served as a retreat for Jane Preston where she could garden and engage in holistic health practices and pursue other natural interests.

  It is a gable roof building built on a concrete slab.

 The north and south ends have openings where aluminum glass panes and/or screens can be installed.  Windows or screens can be installed in whatever openings allow for the best ventilation 
or the opening can be closed against rain. 

It became a place for both Prestons to be away from the telephone and a retreat from the non-air conditioned laboratory building 
seen in the background. 

The rest of the story on our second outing.

I should know when the RG is acting nonchalant 
that he has a secret.

 In this case he had come upon something 

he knew I would want a picture of
but was waiting for me to discover it.

 Hidden over the hillside from Jane's Cabin was . . .

Jane's Spring House

As I said earlier in the week, Preston Park has turned out to be

a hidden treasure relatively in my own backyard

Who knew??

Joining:
Friday's Favourite w/Cath

Preston Fence 051216

Continuing to highlight Preston Park this week.

I have been past this entrance untold times in my life

and only learned its unique history today.

Frank Preston always admired iron gates of the type seen at great estates when he was growing up in Leicester, England. He drove several times a year to Toledo, Ohio to consult with Owens glass. Each trip he noticed this gate on a farm in Ohio. He located the gate owner and purchased the gate. 

Preston had wanted to build a grand house a few miles away or on the property. In 1956, the year of renovations, the gates were erected. Columns and sweeping buttresses of concrete are covered with the Roman brick facing.  

Jane Preston was content with a simple life in the small apartment and the grand house was never built. There was one grand procession through the gates when they were completed and they were opened only one or two more times.

Preston Laboratories is an 87.5-acre property. 

It was the glass science research facility and later residence 

of Dr. Frank W. Preston and wife Jane Hupman Preston.

Rather than building a separate residence the Preston's 

lived in an apartment above the lab.

Joining:

Good Fences w/Theresa

Preston Outdoors 051116

These photos are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the outdoors at this park.

(or in Dr. Preston's case 'the lip of the moraine'.

There is a large oval arboratum where several of the trees have signs describing what they are.

I like the unique pruning of this row.

This is the back of the lab and upstairs residence.

Now turn slowly from the above spot

and this is your view down the terraced lawn.

As you make your way down the lawn

the serenity of the pond can be felt.

Then the sound of the water streaming over the dam.

 Back up the hill and there are a few more buildings 

instrumental to the glass research.

At the beginning I used the term 'lip of the moraine'.

That was because as a conservationist, Dr. Preston

donated a large amount of land on the edge of a moraine 

from the ice age which is now part of

our local state park in another location of the county.

I am fairly certain this 'pebble'

was brought from the area of the moraine.

Preston Park is an 88-acre English garden donated by Dr. Frank Preston, founder of Preston Laboratories, and Mrs. Jane Preston. Dr. Preston, a glass scientist, ornithologist, and ecologist, created and designed an English garden as a place to live, work and enjoy nature.  Dr. Preston apparently walked the entire property daily at dawn, in accordance with his origins in England where a deep interest in nature is a great pastime.

Visitors are able to appreciate the natural habitat by bird watching, catch and release fishing, and studying rare plant life which includes prairie grass and hybrid tree species.  Throughout the property there are many secluded and scenic areas for picnics and gatherings.  

Joining

Outdoor Wednesday w/Susan

Preston Blues 050916

Last week we took a relaxing walk

at Preston Park

It was very quiet and serene

The founders of the laboratory for glass research

graciously left their estate to be developed as a nature park.

Preston Park was the home and workplace of Frank Preston, an English-American engineer, ecologist and conservationist who helped found the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

Preston was a leading expert in glass technology. Among his accomplishments was the development of a lens polishing machine for George Eastman, the founder of Eastman Kodak. He invented a glass-melting furnace that allowed Corning Glass to create Corelle glassware.

Joining:

Blue Monday w/Jeanne