Pioneer Information
Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, Paul graduated from Harvard College in 1902 and earned a B.A.S. (Bachelor of Agricultural Science) from Harvard’s landscape architecture program in 1903. Shortly thereafter he joined the office of Philadelphia landscape architect Oglesby Paul. (Despite sharing the same surname, the two men were unrelated but became acquainted through the landscape architecture program at Harvard.) After Ogelsby Paul’s death in 1915, associates Arthur Paul and Stephen Ford carried the firm forward as Paul & Ford, which was briefly renamed Dreher, Churchman, Paul and Ford (1919-1922) before the partners parted ways.
In 1923, Paul was in practice alone before joining Andorra Nurseries, one of the largest commercial nurseries in the Eastern United States at the time. He began as head of the nursery’s landscape department and later served as its president from 1942 to 1953. Perhaps his most significant work is Tyrconnell, a 27-acre private estate near Baltimore characterized by highly architectural terraced garden rooms and expansive vistas. Tyrconnell was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Paul went on to become a local and national authority on horticulture and landscape design, serving on the board of governors of the Philadelphia Flower Show and hosting a popular weekly radio show called The Garden Party. An accomplished artist, he also served as president of the Conshohocken Art League and as a board member of the Woodmere Art Gallery.
