Friday, May 30, 2008

Shaw's Garden

Tower Grove House in the Botanical Gardens is one of those great examples of Italianate architecture in the middle of the city. Above is what I consider one of the iconic images of the garden, looking through the gates of the oldest portion of the institution.The entire house is surrounded and framed by various trees species.The Linnean House is the oldest greenhouse west of the Mississippi, so they say.Above is Shaw's city house, moved out from Downtown and expanded. Below is a reconstructed bellevue.The bellevue looks down on the hedge maze, which is too easy in my opinion. You can't actually get lost in it.The library, viewed from behind, is never open, which I don't like; it's a great example of early St. Louis architecture.Here is the front, viewed from the old gate of the gardens facing Tower Grove Avenue. Below is his mausoleum; a strange edifice in the middle of the garden.

1 comment:

  1. it seems that the "first [blank] west of the Mississippi!" must be the most frequently used phrase to describe (and venerate!) St. Louis related stuff, doesn't it?

    and yes, i've always wanted to snoop around the library, too!

    ReplyDelete

A Blog detailing the beauty of St. Louis architecture and the buildup of residue-or character-that accumulates over the course of time.