Garden at Il Brolino Estate designed by Yoch and Council

One of the books that I got as part of the first set of books for my 3 digit reading project was The Gardens of California: Four Centuries of Design from Mission to Modern. Prior to reading this book I didn’t know anything at all about garden design and now I feel like I have a tiny understanding of what has influenced landscape design in California. This book has also led me to be curious about a new-to-me couple, Florence Yoch and Lucile Council.

Florence Yoch studied garden design, getting a degree in landscape design at a time when this was definitely a male-dominated industry. She opened her own design business and was joined three years later by Lucile Council. The two maintained a presumably-monogamous lesbian relationship from 1921 through 1964 while simultaneously maintaining a creative partnership that resulted in more than 250 different designs. Wow!

I haven’t found a lot written about this couple. I checked my library’s database and there doesn’t seem to be a book written about them although there certainly seems like there ought to be. Most of what I’ve been able to find online is specifically about the design work of Florence Yoch. She was a set designer on numerous movies including Gone with the Wind. And she was the designer of countless California estate gardens. Council is typically mentioned as a footnote although it sounds like she was a huge contributing partner to Yoch’s life and designs. The mystery makes me even more curious!

Sounds like there’s more research to be done here.

Tags: books, florence yoch, garden design, lucile council