Longwood Reimagined

Longwood Reimagined A New Garden Experience

Blending the visionary and the historic, our legacy of innovation continues with our most ambitious expansion, reimagination, and preservation of our Conservatory and surrounding landscape in a century.

For more than 115 years, we have harmoniously blended art and science to create a horticulture experience of unparalleled splendor. With the realization of Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience—a sweeping reimagination of 17 acres of our Conservatory and grounds, opening November 22, 2024—we are honored to enhance, steward, and preserve one of the world’s most important, most beautiful collections of gardens and glasshouses.

Stunning new buildings, wondrous new indoor and outdoor gardens, surprising new guest experiences, and much more await. We’re expanding our grounds, connecting them from east to west in a beautiful, unified journey of lush, formal gardens to open meadows to winding paths to breathtaking Brandywine Valley vistas. We’re preserving and enhancing our cherished spaces to better showcase and grow our outstanding collections. We’re reflecting our founder’s vision and embodying our mission to create a world apart accessible to all for the celebration and enjoyment of horticulture. We’re entering our next chapter ... with you.

Longwood remains open throughout the project and continues to be a world apart filled with memorable moments and beautiful experiences.

Your New Garden Experience Opens November 22
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Beauty in the Making

As Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience continues to take shape and as our cultural landscape evolves, we are delighted to share with you a few of the many facets of this incredibly detailed project … so you can see true beauty in the making.

Watch as the Project Progresses
Cypress and Bismarkia trees rise above low planting beds and a central runnel

West Conservatory

Built on the great 19th century tradition of glasshouses and enhanced with new, sustainable technologies, our new 32,000-square-foot West Conservatory is the centerpiece and largest component of the project. Like many of Longwood’s renowned features, it has a close relationship with water and seamlessly integrates the old with the new. Its asymmetrical peaks will rise from a pool on which the entire building will seemingly float, while its islands of interior Mediterranean-inspired gardens will be set amid pools, canals, and fountains in an exquisite tapestry-like design.

A winding path cuts through a glasshouse filled with bold tropical leaves, finely textured glaucous plants, and columns of stone and plantings.

Cascade Garden

We’re making history by relocating, reconstructing, and preserving our prized Cascade Garden—the only design in North America by acclaimed Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. A historic garden has never been moved as a whole and preserved in this way, and we are honored to work with a team of scholars, landscape architects, preservation experts, and the Burle Marx Landscape Design Studio while doing so. This 3,800-square-foot custom-built, stand-alone jewel box will allow the plants more room to continue to grow and flourish.

Stately bonsai trees are displayed outdoors atop dark brown wooden stands, with the pointed arches of a large glass conservatory in the background

Bonsai Courtyard

We’re establishing a new outdoor Bonsai Courtyard for what will soon become one of North America’s most outstanding bonsai collections. Located beside the West Conservatory, this outdoor gallery space will artfully showcase our small yet mighty specimens—many of which are more than a century old—allowing many more to be on display at one time, fulfilling our guests’ enduring fascination for these gorgeously graceful plants.

We are proud to announce that we are receiving a gift of 50 bonsai from The Kennett Collection—the finest and largest private collection of bonsai outside of Asia.

Find out more on our blog
Pools of water plants surrounded on 3 sides by large white buildings marked by columns and peaked roofs

Waterlily Court

Designed by renowned landscape architect Sir Peter Shepheard in 1989, our beloved Waterlily Court will be renewed and enhanced. Framed by our new Bonsai Courtyard, this refreshed aquatic garden will be redefined as an outdoor room and further strengthened as a central destination, while serving as a gateway to the new West Conservatory and relocated Cascade Garden.

Overhead view of large glass house with 3-peaked roof, oval and rectangular pools dotted with plants, amid lush green lawns and trees

New Landscapes

The creation of new, imaginative outdoor pathways and vistas will not only expand and connect our Conservatory grounds from east to west, but also celebrate the beauty of the Brandywine Valley along the way. Think open meadows, a sweeping terrace leading toward a stand of hundred-year-old sycamores we have purposefully saved and worked into the landscape, a shaded promenade, and infinite viewpoints from which guests may take in the spectacular seasonal vistas for which our region is so deservedly known.

Three people sit on green chairs at a brown dining table with large arched windows in background

Restaurant & Event Spaces

Carved into the topography facing the Main Fountain Garden, a new public restaurant and private event space will overlook the spectacular fountain displays beyond. From its series of trellis-like ceiling vaults and architectural elements that echo the forms of the Main Fountain Garden, right down to its bespoke furniture crafted with reclaimed wood from Longwood trees, every detail of this remarkable space will delight, entertain, and inspire.

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Dine at 1906
Illustration of future Admin building: diagonal view of three-story glass and brown brick building, fronted by people walking along a pavement bordered by tall decorative grass and flowering trees, and a brown sign in the right bottom corner that reads "The Grove: Offices, Studios, Library."

The Grove

A refurbished and expanded building with new state-of-the-art studios, virtual learning studios, a library, and staff offices, The Grove will become a central hub for our community of staff, students, and volunteers ... as well as a place of learning, growth, and discovery for all. Above all else, The Grove expands our reach in delivering our mission and serving our greater community.

plants with green foliage and multi-colored flowers hang in pots on a black trellis on glass walls

On View Now

Orchid House

As part of the initial phase of transforming the area, our beloved century-old Orchid House will be preserved and expanded to a gallery-like space in which guests will find themselves surrounded by hundreds of orchids. The restoration project will result in a new glass roof, new and restored display cases, restored bronze windows, custom frame trellises, and more … all resulting in more immersive display opportunities.
b&w image of framework of large structure under construction
Grand Plans for Grand-Style Gardening

Ten years after purchasing Longwood, founder Pierre S. du Pont was contemplating the construction of grand indoor facilities. The result was the stunning Conservatory, opened in 1921 and designed with the latest technology to heat, water, and power the complex … but with its systems hidden in tunnels so as not to detract from the grandeur of the glasshouse. This 1920 photograph grants a bird’s-eye view of the project within the beauty of its Brandywine Valley setting.

b&w image of greenhouse with desert plants
Desert House to Cascade Garden

As shown in this April 1960 photograph, the Desert House was constructed at the far west end of the Conservatory in 1957 to display cacti and succulents. In 1992, this area reopened as the Cascade Garden, designed by famed Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. Those plants displayed in the Desert House were incorporated into today’s Silver Garden.

b&w image of large and small pools in a garden under construction
Aquatics Make Their Debut

Tropical aquatics came to Longwood in 1957 with the opening of a 13-pool Waterlily Display, as shown in this March 1957 photograph. The 13 pools remained until the garden’s 1989 redesign by renowned British landscape architect Sir Peter Shepheard, transforming the space to span five larger, dramatic pools filled with vibrant beauty and intrigue.

b&w image of people entering garden grounds and large Conservatory greenhouses
Opening New Worlds, New Experiences

As shown in this July 1957 photograph, guests entered the Gardens at the far west side of the Conservatory before the current Visitor Center was opened in 1962. From the opening of the Visitor Center to the unveiling of the original Waterlily Display, the late 1950s and early 1960s brought tremendous change at Longwood, with an emphasis on public comfort and experiences.

b&w image of large greenhouse under construction, with closeup of lattice-like roof structure
A New Roof for the Azalea House

The Azalea House was built from 1927–1928 as an addition to the Conservatory complex. Pictured here in November 1971 during renovation, the original roof and columns were replaced with a lamella arch roof, creating a greenhouse without internal support. Now called the East Conservatory, the garden was redesigned and its roof replaced in 2006 with a ridge-and-furrow design, keeping with the traditional architecture of the Exhibition Hall and Orangery.

The Project Team

About WEISS/MANFREDI

WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism is a multidisciplinary design practice based in New York City. Founded by Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, the firm is known for the strategic engagement of architecture and site and recognizes the critical dialogue between enclosed and open spaces, between new and existing structures, and between building and city. Notable past projects include the Seattle Art Museum: Olympic Sculpture Park, the Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center, and Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park. The firm’s current work includes the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India, the Artis—Naples Baker Museum and Cultural Campus, and the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale. Most recently, the firm was selected through an international competition to reimagine the La Brea Tar Pits and Page Museum in Los Angeles.

The firm has won numerous awards, including the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal for Architecture, the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, the AIA President’s Award, the Academy Award for Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the International Veronica Rudge Green Prize for Urban Design. They have also been named one of North America’s “Emerging Voices” by the Architectural League of New York, received the New York City AIA Gold Medal of Honor, and were inducted into the National Academy of Design. Michael Manfredi is a Senior Critic at Harvard University and Marion Weiss is the Graham Chair Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. For more information visit weissmanfredi.com.

About Reed Hilderbrand

Reed Hilderbrand is the award-winning landscape architecture practice founded by Douglas Reed and Gary Hilderbrand. The firm’s approach seeks to connect daily life with the visible systems of nature as well as the underlying patterns of culture. Recognized with more than 80 design awards, the practice is known for its great sensitivity to place and record of design excellence in collaboration with mission-driven organizations, institutions, communities, and individuals.

Among Reed Hilderbrand’s completed works are The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts; the Besthoff Sculpture Garden at the New Orleans Museum of Art; and the Leventritt Shrub and Vine Garden at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts. Notable works in progress include commissions for Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Storm King Art Center, Tanglewood Music Center, and the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. The Architectural League of New York named Reed Hilderbrand one of North America’s “Emerging Voices” in 2005. Douglas Reed and Gary Hilderbrand are each recipients of the ASLA Design Medal, awarded in 2019 and 2017, respectively. ASLA named Reed Hilderbrand Firm of the Year in 2013. For more information visit reedhilderbrand.com.

About Bancroft Construction Company

Bancroft Construction is an award-winning, Mid-Atlantic construction management firm servicing clients throughout Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. For more than 45 years, Bancroft has taken great pride in building not only physical structures, but also long-standing relationships. Bancroft commits to a partnership approach for all projects that it manages—from major developments to revitalizing world-renowned cultural landmarks. Recently, Bancroft proudly managed the multiple award-winning revitalization of Longwood Gardens’ Main Fountain Garden. Centered around the idea of bettering our community, Bancroft assists our clients with their projects from concept to completion and offers construction-based solutions in regard to program management, estimating services, construction management, owner’s representation, and virtual design and construction, as well as sustainability methods and materials. For more information visit bancroftconstruction.com.

Our grand Conservatory display spaces remain open throughout Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience (opening November 22, 2024). However, the western part of the Conservatory is closed.