Conservatory of Flowers - A Glass House From a Kit
Photo: harley photo, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
A stop on San Francisco, District by District, a free self-guided tour.
The white glass greenhouse on the rise north of John F. Kennedy Drive is the oldest building in the park. Its frame was bought as a kit by the millionaire James Lick, who died before he could put it up. A group of San Francisco businessmen bought the parts from his estate and gave them to the park, and the Conservatory opened in 1879.
It has survived fire, storms and neglect. A boiler fire in 1883 destroyed the main dome, and a 1995 windstorm shattered thousands of panes and closed the building until a restoration finished in 2003.
The flower beds on the lawn in front, laid out in patterns, have been a favorite photo spot since the 1800s. Check the Conservatory's website for current hours and admission.
More on Wikipedia: Conservatory of Flowers · James Lick
Stops on this tour
- Ferry Building and the Embarcadero - Where the City Met the World
- Financial District and Jackson Square - Gold Rush on the Old Shoreline
- Chinatown - The Neighborhood That Refused to Move
- North Beach and Telegraph Hill - Little Italy and the Beats
- Fisherman's Wharf - Italian Boats and Old Ships
- Nob Hill and Russian Hill - Cable Cars, Mansions and the Great Fire
- The Presidio - Two Centuries Guarding the Golden Gate
- Japantown and the Fillmore - Two Communities, One Neighborhood
- Haight-Ashbury - From Victorian Suburb to Summer of Love
- Golden Gate Park - Sand Dunes Turned Into a Park
- The Castro - A Neighborhood That Became a Movement
- The Mission - Where San Francisco Began
- Civic Center - Domes, Charters and Protest
- South of Market - From Rincon Hill to the Tech Boom