The project is a unique mix of new construction, modern design, historic adaptive reuse, and thoughtful site planning. At its center, perched at the highest point on a peninsula and adjacent to a beloved municipal park, is the landmark presence of a seaside estate designed in 1855 by A.J. Davis in his noted Gothic Revival style. Since the 1940’s, this mansion was used intermittently for several municipal and cultural uses. In 2018 it had been vacant for many years when it was devastated by an arsonist’s blaze.

Roof and interior destroyed, the stone shell was determined to be salvageably intact. After a program to clear debris and provide temporary stabilizing support for the vulnerable freestanding masonry gables, a concept was developed to transform the ruins into a seasonal event space. The abandoned site would be further reinvigorated by co-locating a new public greenhouse facility, to host educational and social enrichment programs centered around ecological themes.

At the mansion, the remainder of the interior was gutted and the basement filled. The signature stone walls were rehabilitated, tied together with a reinforced concrete cap, and the temporary exterior structural bracing replaced with an internal steel frame – capable of supporting the load of a future skylight roof. A portion of the original interior and a former porch that had been the subject of many previous interventions, were developed as enclosed conditioned space to house a catering kitchen and rest rooms.

The greenhouse building was placed on the site to optimize sun exposure, create a boundary for the property, and to capture the area between the new and old buildings as a new, dynamic, and energized outdoor space. Exterior terraces are provided at both facilities. The two structures, separated by 170 years, are united by a sympathetic color palette and common use of modern materials to express new construction.