first magazine in the world to have 1 million
subscribers. Bok was a champion of social causes,
a pioneer in the field of public sex education,
prenatal education and childcare. He also was
part of the effort to preserve Niagara Falls.
After 30 years as Ladies Home Journal editor, he
retired in 1919.
Having made arrangements to buy land on
the hilltop, Bok commissioned a famous landscape
architect, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., to
change the arid, dry sandhill into “a spot of
beauty second to none in the country.” After
Olmsted drew the plans, work began by digging
trenches and laying water pipes for irrigation.
Then thousands of loads of rich black soil were
trucked in to enrich the lands.
Once the gardens were completed, Bok
believed something was missing. Remembering
the glorious sound of carillons in his native
Holland, he decided to build a beautiful tower
as the focal point of the sanctuary which would
be crowned by a large carillon or bell instrument.
Bok commissioned fellow Philadelphian,
architect Milton B. Medary, to design and build
the majestic carillon tower. Medary used Gothic
towers and churches of Europe as his inspiration,
but wanted to include the characteristics of
Florida’s landscape in the design. As a result,
Bok hired Lee Lawrie, a noted sculptor from
New York, to design marble sculptures that
adorn the tower.
Bok, Medary and Lawrie made it a goal to create
perfect unity and symbolism in the design of
the Tower. The scheme for the sculptures and
grille work is mostly birds and plants with a few
other forms of wildlife depicted. Besides various
flowers and trees, you can find cranes,
herons, eagles, seahorses, jellyfish, fin fish, pelicans,
flamingos, geese, swans, foxes, storks, tortoises,
hares, baboons, Adam and Eve, and the
serpent. Recitals from the 60-bell carillon fill
Bok Sanctuary daily.
Just adjacent to the gardens is a 20-room
Mediterranean Revival mansion called
Pinewood Estate. In 1970, Historic Bok
Sanctuary acquired the estate. Pinewood began
its life in 1930 under the name “El Retiro” and
was the winter home of C. Austin Buck, vice
president of Bethlehem Steel.
To design the mansion, Buck brought in
Charles Wait, long affiliated with the Olmsted
firm. Wait created a house that had the appearance
of a Mediterranean villa with thick walls,
Looking up at the 205-foot Gothic and art deco Carillon
Tower, top, is an experience like no other. Designed by
famed architect Milton B. Medary and ornately crafted by
noted stone sculptor Lee Lawrie, the tower houses one of
the world's finest carillons. Recitals from the 60-bell carillon
fill the Sanctuary daily. At left, be dazzled by bountiful
seasonal blooms as you stroll through the historic gardens.
Azaleas light up the sanctuary’s walkways from
112 December through April.
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