East of Eden

In 1967, Longwood embarked on a modernist design trend that was a dramatic departure from previous conservatory construction, along with a new emphasis on educational landscapes.

By Colvin Randall

The new Azalea House opened in April 1973 with beds of cymbidium orchids surrounded by azaleas. The building was renamed the East Conservatory in 1982. It was about 216 feet long and 105 feet wide, excluding an open air entrance vestibule at the east end. The pool design for the fountain in the distance was suggested by landscape architect Thomas Church.

In 1967, the architectural firm of Richard Phillips Fox, AIA, Inc., from Newark, Delaware, was retained to improve Longwood’s facilities, especially the Maintenance Department offices and the 1928 Azalea House, then in poor repair. Richard Fox (1926–1972) earned his architectural degree from the University of Virginia, served as an architect with the DuPont Company from 1951 to 1961, then founded his own firm. His work included the Louviers Country Club in Newark, the expanded fieldhouse at the University of Delaware, and the Education and Humanities Center at Delaware State College in Dover. While with DuPont, Fox consulted with the plastics department to develop a prismatic Lucite™ glazing material that reduced the need for shading during the summer.

Preliminary estimates indicated $1.5 million for a new building versus $250,000 to rehab the existing structure. After additional design proposals, it was decided to proceed with a lamella arch roof “as an exciting departure from the more conventional greenhouse construction used previously here at Longwood. The potential for display should closely parallel those now possible in the Orangerie and Exhibition Hall.” Such a roof is made up of crisscrossing parallel arches forming a diamond pattern. New holding houses for the existing plants were built east of the Experimental Greenhouse. Construction was to begin in 1969 by the Rupert Construction Company with hopes of finishing by late 1970, but progress was slowed by what was later calculated to be 551 days of delays. The old Azalea House was partially demolished during the fall of 1969. The east wall was first removed to permit the Horticulture Department to relocate about 225 rhododendrons and azaleas to newly built holding houses. Then additional roof was opened to allow moving the largest rhododendron and a huge camphor tree to a temporary house adjoining the Boiler Room. Foundation excavation continued during the winter under the protection of the remaining roof. By the end of 1969, 50 tons of reinforcing steel had been placed and 430 cubic yards of concrete poured for the substructure, which had to be massive to isolate it from the existing building foundations on three sides.

By early 1970, the old house was essentially gone and new main columns were under construction, but then a 46-day strike by the laborers’ union forced a delay. About 150 blue Lucite roof panels were formed, but it was discovered that the color was too dark, so clear Lucite was ordered instead. Sandblasting of the concrete produced an exposed aggregate finish that blended with the existing Earley finish of the adjoining buildings.

In 1971, errors were discovered in the shape of the roof structural steel, which had to be sent back to St. Louis for modification.

Then the cement finishers went on strike for 134 days. By July some work resumed. The steel lamella arch was nearing completion, and installation of the Lucite glazing began, although some 200 units had dimensional variation that required a return to the manufacturer for adjustment. Roof glazing was finished by March 1972. Problems then arose with the vent operators, and five panels were blown off during Hurricane Agnes. By late 1972, additional problems challenged both engineers and contractors, especially roof leaks. But the conservatory was sufficiently completed for a grand opening with 1,100 guests on April 4, 1973. The total cost was at least $2.3 million (about $15.7 million in today’s dollars), including ancillary storage and greenhouse buildings needed to support the Azalea House.

In August 1972, Longwood’s Advisory Committee reviewed the proposed planting scheme of what was termed “Burle Marx sweeps of color.” It was noted that “the design portrayed in these displays should express modern trends in horticultural expression and should avoid the classical design most frequently used in the older conservatories.” Later that year, Landon Scarlett was hired to coordinate the Azalea House displays for then-assistant director Everitt Miller. She had worked previously at Longwood starting in 1969, then spent a year at the famed Hilliers Nursery in the U.K. On her return as Longwood’s Design Coordinator, her first job was to decide where to replant specimens that had been held over from the old house. Scarlett coordinated design at Longwood for the next 17 years.

In 1975, the Engineering Societies in the Delaware Valley presented Longwood with a certificate of achievement “for their successful challenge to the engineering profession to produce a Display Conservatory of extraordinary beauty with unique humidity and temperature requirements. The sophisticated mathematics of statically indeterminate structures was employed to produce a thin membered roof which transmits maximum natural light and is of spectacular beauty.” Longwood director Russell Seibert was pleased, noting that “there is a definite trend for engineers to recognize the value of esthetics along with function.”

Opposite: The Azalea House in 1982, when it was renamed the East Conservatory. Three sinuous, overlapping pools and large holly trees were added to the center hourglass in 1977. The hollies were replaced by nine tall Washington palms in 1989.

Learning by Example

Themed model gardens indoors were a new concept for Longwood in the 1960s. One available location was the rectangular plot between the 1928 Azalea House and the 1921 fruit houses where the seasonal Acacia Path was mounted every year (today’s Garden Path). The first attempt was a Japanese garden in 1965, followed by a southern “Charleston” garden in 1967. Apparently these were more decorative than educational.

When the new Azalea House opened six years later, four small Example Gardens were simultaneously unveiled on the same plot to show what amateur gardeners could achieve outdoors on a small scale for a typical home landscape. The gardens were designed by invited landscape architects and executed by Longwood staff.

The first year, 1973, featured four small gardens, on the theme “Welcome to the Home—An Entryway.”

In 1974, the theme was “A Service Area,” an outdoor work center serving as a convenient passageway to the rear or secondary entrance of a house.

In 1975, two larger “Patio Gardens” were presented in the previous four allotted spaces.

For the bicentennial year, 1976, one large garden entitled “A Colonial Garden in the Twentieth Century” by prominent restoration architect Robert Raley filled the entire space.

The 1978 theme, “Balcony Gardens,” was suggested by director Seibert after a trip to Italy, where he and wife Deni were impressed with the planted window boxes and balconies that enlivened Mediterranean cityscapes. Architect for Longwood’s elevated display was Don Homsey from Victorine and Samuel Homsey, Inc., Wilmington, DE. Construction and planting were done, as usual, by Longwood’s craftsmen and horticulturists.

Two years passed before the next exhibit debuted in 1980. “Living with Plants” was set in one half of a simulated turn-of-thecentury brick duplex. Don Homsey was again the architect. Gardening with limited light was a main theme.

The “Weekend Gardener” was the final effort at Example Gardens in the Conservatory. It was constructed in 1984 with two landscapes—a city vista and a country vista— designed around garden rooms. Armistead Browning, Jr., from West Chester, PA, was the landscape architect.

By the mid-1980s, the concept of mostly outdoor gardens indoors had run its course, and imaginative ideas for the conservatories were proposed instead under the leadership of a new director, Fred Roberts. The next two decades would be an incredibly fertile chapter in Longwood’s history.

Themed indoor model gardens were a new concept for Longwood in the 1960s. To implement the concept, an available rectangular plot, located between the 1928 Azalea House and the 1921 fruit houses, was employed. On the following pages is an overview of every concept staged, from the introductory foray in 1965 until the display was discontinued in the mid-1980s.

The first attempt at a themed model garden at Longwood was this Japanese garden (above) in 1965, followed by a southern style “Charleston garden” (left) in 1967. These were the precursors to the Example Gardens that followed.

1973: Welcome to the Home—An Entryway

“Welcome to the Home—An Entryway” was the theme for four small gardens in 1973. The four gardens (clockwise from top left) were designed respectively by: Edward Bachle, Wilmington DE; Frederic Blau, Delaware Valley College; Conrad Hamerman, Philadelphia, PA (Hamerman would later go on to design the Cascade Garden at Longwood in collaboration with Roberto Burle Marx); and William Favand, York, PA.

“A Service Area” was the theme for 1974, which focused on schemes for an outdoor work center that could serve as an extension or passageway to a secondary home entrance. The gardens were designed respectively by (above, clockwise from top left): Richard Harris, Jr., Hockessin, DE; George Patton, Philadelphia, PA; Laurence Paglia, Newtown Square, PA; and Donald Knox, Inc., Greenville, DE.

“Balcony was the theme for 1978, an idea that was suggested by Director after he and his impressed

1980: Living with Plants

“Living with Plants” was the theme for 1980, a concept centered around gardening with limited light that was set in one half of a turn-of-the-century brick duplex. Don Homsey was again the architect. Upper quadrant, clockwise from top left: Entrance; Porch with Containers and Baskets; Window Greenhouse; and Kitchen Patio Garden. Lower quadrant, clockwise from top left: Kitchen and Solar Greenhouse; Kitchen; Dining Room; and Living Room.

1984: Weekend Gardener

“Weekend Gardener” was the final effort at Example Gardens in the Conservatory. It was constructed in 1984 with two landscapes—a city and a country vista—designed around garden rooms. The designer was Armistead Browning, Jr., West Chester, PA. From top to bottom: Townhouse Garden Room; Townhouse Garden; Meadow and Country Garden Room; and Meadow Pool.