Despite leaving his studies in 1918 to join the American Red Cross as an ambulance driver in Italy, he graduated with his class in 1920 and received his master's degree in 1923 from the School of Landscape Architecture.

He then apprenticed with the Olmsted Brothers, toured Europe, and on his return established his practice in Boston, serving as secretary of The Trustees of Reservations as its first paid employee.

In this role, he conceived and began the process of establishing the Bay Circuit Beltway, a green belt encircling greater Boston.

One of his most notable government projects was in planning and advocating for the George Washington Memorial Parkway along the Potomac River.

As he wrote at the time, "No area in the United States combine[s] so many historical monuments in so small a district as the Potomac River Valley in the Washington region."