This iconic home on the Cornell campus was designed by architect Carl Cornwell Tallman in 1925 for Professor Edward Gorton Davis, who was chair of the university's department of landscape architecture. The home overlooks a two-hundred-foot gorge that divides the campus. Inspired by homes in Provence, France, Professor Davis wanted a garden compound with ten-foot-high brick walls surrounding the property. The house is highly regarded for its beauty and is studied by the Cornell architecture school across the gorge. It is known for its "secret garden" and retains its original charm, including two-foot oak beams, French doors, and several terraces. The Cornell Heights Historic District is an architecturally and historically significant example of a planned suburban development from the turn-of-the-century. The curvilinear streets, beautiful landscape, residential character on spacious lots, and historical development pattern align with the romantic tradition of ideal residence parks popularized by Frederick Law Olmsted after the Civil War. The inspiration of this home and the atmosphere surrounding it was a splendid influence in the work at Cornell.
