Landscape Architect
Elsie Hoesley White came to Pylaia to oversee with her husband the building of the new Anatolia campus on Greek soil. Having studied at Grinnell and then landscape architecture in California, Elsie White was asked to transform the barren fields of Pylaia into graceful gardens, with orchards and paths, a groundbreaking practice for the time in Greece. Based on her design, a greenhouse was built and a variety of evergreen trees, vines, shrubs and flowers were planted. Cypresses, pines, boxwoods, lilacs and angelica herbs the size of trees, irises and others formed a unique Mediterranean landscape. 90 years later, many of the species planted by Elsie White are still preserved, making the Anatolia gardens historic. More specifically, Anatolia College currently has more than 2250 trees and shrubs, which places it at the top of the list of academic institutions with substantial planting in their surroundings.
