World Art Utopia

Garden of Eden

S.P. Dinsmoor’s Garden of Eden in Lucas, Kansas: a limestone log-cabin-style house surrounded by tall concrete trees with sculpted figures and animals on their branches.
Artwork FileLucas, Kansas, United States

Garden of Eden

SeenAug 2025

Samuel Perry Dinsmoor · 1907–1928 (operator; dates differ) · Lucas, Kansas, United States

Photo: Kim Newell / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0); rotated

Samuel Perry Dinsmoor surrounded his limestone home in Lucas with cement sculptures about religion, labour and politics. The house resembles a log cabin, but its long blocks are carved stone. Source Source Source Source Checked

Latest dated evidence checked: Documented Aug 2025. This is not a present-day condition survey. Source Reported

💡 4 things to know

  1. Stone pretending to be timberThe operator describes limestone blocks cut into long, narrow forms and joined like a log cabin. Source Reported
  2. Politics enters the gardenPhiladelphia's Magic Gardens identifies a tableau in which a lawyer, doctor, priest and capitalist crucify Labour. Source Reported
  3. Built where they standErika Nelson told Kansas City magazine that the tall sculptures were constructed in place, rather than raised after completion. Source Reported
  4. A later team preserved the workKohler's conservation project repaired the environment; Philadelphia's Magic Gardens dates this major restoration to 2012. Source Reported

📍 Where it is

305 East Second Street · Lucas, Kansas, United States Source Checked

Open in Maps

Map search; no clearly framed Street View image was verified.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 1907

    Construction begins in the operator and Kohler chronologies.

  2. 1928

    End of the construction span stated by the site's cabin history.

  3. 2012

    Kohler restoration dated by Philadelphia's Magic Gardens.

  4. 201216 Aug

    Kim Newell photographs the environment. Camera date.

  5. 20255 Aug

    Kansas City magazine publishes an interview about the surviving sculptures.

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports. Publication dates are not camera dates.

✅ The facts

Creator
Samuel Perry Dinsmoor Source Checked
Construction chronology
The operator’s Cabin Home history gives 1907–1928; Kohler also gives a 1907 start, while Kansas City magazine says the cabin began in 1904. We favor the specific Cabin Home history and conservation account. Source Source Source Conflicting
Cabin
Eleven rooms, built in limestone Source Checked
Sculptures
Approximately 150 Source Reported
Cement used
113 tons, according to Kohler Foundation Source Reported
Address
305 East Second Street, Lucas, Kansas Source Checked
Major restoration
2012 Source Checked

In the press

Kansas City magazine · 2025-08-05 · How one Kansas man created his very own Garden of Eden
“He built them where they are.”
Nelson explains that the sculptures were constructed in their final positions. Source Source Reported

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Photo: Kim Newell / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0); rotated

Last checked: 26 October 2026 · How we verify art