Pioneer Information
Born and raised in Colleton County, South Carolina, Marvin was influenced by his native landscape, his family’s nursery, and the work of Innocenti & Webel at Bonnie Doone plantation, on which his family resided. These experiences led him to study horticulture, earning a BS from Clemson University in 1942. After serving as a U.S. Army Captain in the Pacific during World War II, Marvin pursued advanced studies in landscape architecture at the University of Georgia, Athens, from 1945 to 1947.
In 1947 he founded Robert E. Marvin & Associates (later Robert Marvin/Howell Beach & Associates) in Walterboro, South Carolina, initially designing gardens for regional plantations. He also established a landscape construction company, which he operated until 1980, to ensure an ecology-based sustainable approach that minimized negative impacts during construction. Early work shaped his ethical framework that centered on stewardship, collaboration, and respect for natural systems.
Marvin’s works included residential landscapes, planned communities, public parks, and corporate campuses. Notable projects include Glencairn Gardens (1958) in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and the Simmons Company’s Jones Bridge Headquarters (1975, now demolished) on the Chattahoochee River near Atlanta. He conducted site work on Hilton Head Island with developer Charles Fraser and Sasaki, Dawson & DeMay (now Sasaki) on Sea Pines Plantation (1960s–1980s, now Sea Pines) residential community. Marvin also designed the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park (1981), Beaufort, South Carolina, and the John A. Sibley Horticultural Center at Callaway Gardens (1984, now closed), Pine Mountain, Georgia. In Columbia, South Carolina, he designed Finlay Park (1991) and renovated the formal gardens and park-like setting of the Governor’s Mansion (1980s–1990s).
Marvin received more than forty national awards, including the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Medal in 2001, and was elected a Fellow of the ASLA in 1990. He passed away at the age of 81.
