Rescuing a Turn-of-the-Century Greenhouse - Greenwich Connecticut 2005-2006
- In the early days of greenhouse construction - long before aluminum - greenhouses were made of iron and cypress wood from the Florida swamps. Lord & Burnham owned extensive cypress groves throughout Florida; when these were exhausted by the 1930s, L&B turned unsuccessfully to redwood, before employing the aluminum frames used today.
- These photos show the poor condition in 2000 of a century old 18' by 45' iron and cypress Lord & Burnham greenhouse. It was located on a Greenwich estate whose current owner had no interest in it, so it was rapidly deteriorating.
- Richard Diesl, Glass Garden Builder's founder, convinced the owner to let him rescue this vintage greenhouse. He and his crew cleared away the overgrowth and disassembled the iron and cypress skeleton, carefully numbering each piece for eventual reconstruction and transported it to GGB's shop in Old Lyme, Connecticut. There GGB cleaned and restored the greenhouse - piece by piece - replacing the iron sections that were beyond repair from GGB's extensive stock of antique greenhouse parts.