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Early Days of the Greenhouse | ||
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Visitors walking down the south road behind Washington National Cathedral come upon the Greenhouse, an old-fashioned wood and glass structure nestled into the sloping hill of Mount Saint Alban. The Greenhouse has occupied this site since the beginning of 1950, but the idea of greenhouses at the Cathedral has been around since construction began in 1907. Cathedrals are often surrounded by wonderful gardens, and Washington National Cathedral was, and still is, no exception. Greenhouses originally built to supply plants and flowers had fallen into great disrepair by the early 1940s, when it was decided that a new greenhouse should be built in a location more accessible to the public.
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The purpose of the Greenhouse was threefold:
On May 9, 1950, Dean Suter led a short ceremony dedicating “The Greenhouse at the Bend in the Road.” The dedication was attended by members of the National Cathedral Association who were participating in an annual meeting. In the half-century since that dedication, the Greenhouse has become an oasis for members of the Cathedral family and the surrounding neighborhood, a place returned to again and again. |
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Plans to build the new greenhouse were put on hold in 1944 because of restrictions related to World War II. However, in 1949 the plans were approved and construction began. Ten thousand dollars was all that was needed to construct the Greenhouse, including everything from preparing the site to applying the last drop of paint.