Great Palm House. The domed roof of the Palm House is 

 27 feet high and 67 feet in diameter and is approximately 

 80 feet from the floor to the ceiling at the highest point. The 

 Palm House is flanked on the east and west sides by open 

 courtyards, each containing 4,992 square feet. The Conserv- 

 atory also contains two 2,673-square-foot display wings, 

 which are not under glass. These sections are used for flower 

 shows, lectures, and special events. 



Each section or room of the Conservatory is devoted to 

 a display of different plant groups. Originally the eight rooms 

 were named the Bay-Tree House, Succulent House, Succu- 

 lent House Annex, Orangery, Orangery Annex, Fern House, 

 Tropical Fruit House, and Palm House. As the Garden's col- 

 lections have changed, so have the designations attached 

 to these rooms. They presently are named Cycad House, 

 Fern Connecting House, Fern House, Palm House, Cactus 

 House, Cactus Connecting House, Bromeliad House, and 

 Subtropical House. Inside each section of the building are 

 planting boxes, which run the length of the room and vary 

 in width from 4 to 15 feet. 4 The beds are separated by brick 

 walkways varying in width from 4 to 6 feet. All of the beds 

 are edged with calcareous tufa rock. 5 



At the same time the new Conservatory was being built, 

 a Director's home was constructed at the rear of the Garden. 

 This house replaced the two-story cottage on the old Botanic 

 Garden grounds in which both William R. Smith and George 

 W. Hess lived while in charge of the Garden. In 1933, the 

 Washington Star depicted the Director's new home as being 

 "very 'bijou/ " a "jewel indeed, unique, expensive, exclu- 

 sive, magnificent and historic." 6 Today, the eight-room house 

 serves as the Garden's office and is the work place of the 

 Executive Director and the administrative staff. 



4 Details on the history of the Conservatory can be found in the records 

 of the Architect of the Capitol. 



5 The calcareous rock used in the Botanic Garden came from Centra- 

 lia, Ohio. It was formed in the bed of a highly charged subterranean lime 

 spring, which emerged from the ground in that area. The water in the 

 spring was dammed by beavers and an artificial lake was created. The 

 lime precipitated to the bottom of the lake, along with many years' worth 

 of decomposed organic matter. After the dam broke and this material was 

 exposed to the elements it hardened. This material is known as tufa rock. 



6 Josephine Tighe Williams, This is the House that Uncle Sam Built, 

 Sunday Star Magazine, May 7, 1933, pp. 3, 7. 



51 



