At the age of 34, John Nolen elected to return to school.  He attended Harvard University’s Landscape Architecture Program.  Still in its infancy, the renowned Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., led the program.  While completing his degree, Nolen began picking up small commissions designing parks in the South.

But as Nolen designed parks, he started thinking more about a wider scope of planning.  Not just what should be in a park, but where should the park be placed? Moreover, what should be near the parks?  During this time, Nolen was influenced by what was called the Garden City Movement.  It began in England with the idea of designing small hamlets surrounded by greenbelts.  This idea, tied to Nolen’s Progressive notions of the time, sparked the concept of designing not just parks and roadways, but cities.  He thought the way to do that was for governments to start planning their cities.  Nolen became a pioneer in city planning.  Early works in Roanoke, VA; San Diego, CA; and Madison, WI would create a reputation for him that would lead to work in the booming state of Florida in the 1920s.

Nolen caught the eye of world-renowned doctor and developer Dr. Fred Albee.  Albee hired him to design his community of Bayshore Estates in Nokomis, FL.  Later, he would have Nolen begin work for a new community of his—Venice. Soon after beginning, Albee sold the land to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE).  The BLE was looking for a quick turn on investment and saw Florida real estate as the means to do it.  They continued Nolen’s contract and had him design the urban, mixed-use, walkable community that makes up the historic heart of Venice today.