Pioneer Information
Born in Mark, Louisiana, Landry completed school through the seventh grade, later taking engineering courses through University of Iowa, Brigham Young University, and Louisiana State University. In 1914 Landry began working at Esso Standard Oil Refinery (now Exxon Mobil) in Baton Rouge and in 1920 married Julia Louise Bird (Lou Bird). Five years later they moved to Cinclare Plantation in Brusly, Louisiana, opening a nursery, Cottage Gardens, on its grounds.
Landry began practicing landscape design in 1930, one of the earliest practitioners in the state. Four years later the couple relocated to Port Allen, Louisiana, and founded a landscape design firm, again named Cottage Gardens. Works included residential, educational, and institutional properties as well as the preservation and rehabilitation of historic plantations throughout Louisiana’s Mississippi River corridor. In 1941 the Landrys, in collaboration with Louisiana State University botanist Dr. Clair Alan Brown, conducted a survey of Valcour Aime’s gardens at St. James Refinery (now Le Petit Versailles), Vacherie; in 1956 they rehabilitated the gardens at Afton Villa (now Afton Villa Gardens), St. Francisville.
Landry retired from engineering in 1958 and continued to practice landscape design alongside his wife. In 1966 and 1972 they rehabilitated Madewood Plantation, Napoleonville, and Oaklawn Manor, Franklin. They also designed church grounds, often pro bono, including St. Gabriel Catholic Church in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, and the Basilica de Esquipulas in Guatemala in 1964.
Landry frequently lectured on the history and practice of landscape design and the need for the preservation of historic landscapes, as in his address to the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) National Convention in 1964. He passed away at the age of 81, and is buried in the Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church Cemetery, Brusly.
