A Cemetery Steps Outside Its Walls

Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery has unveiled a new welcome and education center built around a restored Victorian greenhouse, creating a community-facing gateway that opens this weekend on April 18–19. Dubbed 'The Green-House,' the complex sits directly across from the cemetery's main entrance, designed to draw in local residents who might otherwise hesitate to enter.

"Having a part of Green-Wood outside of our gates meets people in the community where they are," said Meera Joshi, the cemetery's president. "It allows them to feel more comfortable and learn to love Green-Wood the way so many of us who wander these paths already do."

The 1895 Greenhouse Reborn

At the heart of the project is the restoration of a cast-iron and glass structure built in 1895—the only surviving Victorian commercial greenhouse in New York City. Formerly known as the Weir Greenhouse, it retains its original wire screen sign atop a copper-clad dome. Both the greenhouse (listed in 1984) and Green-Wood Cemetery (listed in 1997) are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Green-Wood acquired the landmarked structure from McGovern Florists in 2012 for $1.6 million, when the glass was damaged and wooden frames were rotting. Construction on the new L-shaped addition wrapping around it didn't begin until 2023. Total project cost reached $34 million.

Brooklyn-based Architecture Research Office (ARO) designed the new wing, clad in glazed terracotta. ARO principal Stephen Cassell said the material offers "a modern interpretation of the brownstone you see on the 1860s arch, which has a hint of red." The building houses classrooms, offices, a reading room, archival storage, and two rotating exhibition galleries. Landscaping by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates brings a sense of the cemetery's natural character to the streetside courtyard.

190 Years of Transformation

Founded in 1838 as part of the American rural cemetery movement, Green-Wood predates both Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It became a popular retreat for New Yorkers seeking nature on the rolling hills above New York Harbor.

The cemetery closed to the public from the 1980s until 2000, leaving many local residents with memories of being turned away. Since reopening, it has evolved into a cultural destination offering birdwatching, concerts, and film screenings across its 478 acres.

The Green-House extends this evolution by lowering the barrier of entry—both literally and psychologically. "By adding a new front door, you ease the transition and provide better context for the cemetery," Joshi said. The floor of the restored greenhouse now features a tile map of the entire cemetery grounds to help visitors orient themselves before stepping through the gates.

The new galleries will also bring into public view the Green-Wood Historic Fund's extensive collection of works tied to the cemetery's 'eternal residents,' including George Bellows, William Merritt Chase, Leon Golub, Nancy Spero, and Louis Comfort Tiffany—pieces that have rarely been on display.