Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903) is recognized as the founder of American landscape architecture and the nation's foremost parkmaker of the 19th century.

In 1883, Olmsted moved his home to suburban Boston and established "Fairsted", the world's first full-scale professional office for the practice of landscape design.

Over the course of the next century, his sons and successors expanded and perpetuated Olmsted's design ideals, philosophy, and influence.

Olmsted bought the Clark homestead, an 1810 Federal farmhouse, in 1883, to be near his frequent collaborator, H. H. Richardson, whose home and office were nearby.

[3] Park resources include the restored "Fairsted" historic landscape, and the design office (which remains virtually unchanged from the days when the Olmsted firm's activity was at its height.)