Client:
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Inc.
Project:
Phipps Conservatory
Location:
Pittsburgh
Our Role:
Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form
Henry Phipps gave Pittsburgh its first conservatory, a ‘crystal palace’ designed by one of the nation’s prominent architectural firms, Lord and Burnham of New York. When Phipps Conservatory opened in time for Christmas on December 7, 1893, it was America’s largest conservatory. A few months after the grand opening, the 1894 spring flower show drew over 13,000 visitors. Another prominent architectural firm, Rutan and Russell, designed the adjacent Phipps Halls of Botany in 1901. As the Conservatory grew, other buildings and landscape features were designed by Ralph Griswold, one of Pittsburgh’s most important landscape architects. The Conservatory has been listed on the National Register since 1976.