Lord & Burnham was a noted American boiler and

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

manufacturer, and builders of major public conservatories in the United States.

History

The company began in 1849 when Frederick A. Lord, a carpenter, started building wood and glass greenhouses for neighbors in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. It became Lord's full-time profession in 1856 as production moved to

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

and then to

Irvington, New York Irvington, sometimes known as Irvington-on-Hudson, is a suburban Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village of the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, Un ...

to be closer to his customers in the large

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

estates. In 1872 Lord's son-in-law William Addison Burnham joined the firm. Their first major commission came in the 1876 when California philanthropist

James Lick James Lick (August 25, 1796 – October 1, 1876) was an American real estate investor, carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences. The wealthiest man in California at the time of his death, Lick left the majority of his es ...

hired the firm to create a conservatory similar to that in

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

. Its parts were fabricated in New York and shipped to California by boat around

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

. Lick died before the greenhouse could be constructed, but the materials were used to build the

Conservatory of Flowers The Conservatory of Flowers is a greenhouse and botanical garden that houses a collection of rare and exotic plants in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California. With construction having been completed in 1879, it is the oldest building in the ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park is an urban park between the Richmond District, San Francisco, Richmond and Sunset District, San Francisco, Sunset districts on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of San Francisco, California, United States. It is the Lis ...

.Barmann, Jay (January 14, 2022
"In Its History, SF's Conservatory of Flowers Has Burned Down Twice, and Was Nearly Destroyed By a Windstorm In 1995"
''

SFist ''Gothamist'' is a New York City–centric blog operated by New York Public Radio. From 2003 to 2018, Gothamist LLC was the operator, or in some cases franchisor, of eight city-centric websites that focused on news, events, food, culture, and ...

'' In 1881 the firm constructed the first steel-framed curvilinear greenhouse in the United States for railroad magnate

Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who founded the Gould family, Gould business dynasty. He is generally identified as one of the Robber baron (industrialist), robber bar ...

, on a property now open as Lyndhurst. In 1883 the partnership incorporated as Lord's Horticultural Manufacturing Company, and in 1890 the name was changed to today's Lord & Burnham Company. Beginning in 1894, the company purchased underwater property beyond the tracks in Irvington and began filling in to create new land for an expansion. The expansion complex was completed by 1912, at which time the company employed 250 men. The company used the property as additional factory space in the production process of their greenhouses. By 1988, only about a dozen employees remained at the Irvington factory, and Lord and Burnham ceased to exist when the factory closed in that year.

2018 acquisition

The engineering and manufacturing assets of Lord & Burnham's line of residential greenhouses were acquired in 2018 by Arcadia GlassHouse LLC from Under Glass Manufacturing Company. Arcadia GlassHouse continues to manufacture replacement parts and residential greenhouse kits with the original Lord & Burnham design. Rough Brothers also derives products from the Lord & Burnham name and product line. William Addison Burnham continued to make boilers and the company he founded, Burnham Commercial, continues to do so today.

Conservatories

The company's early greenhouses were made of cypress before switching to iron or steel. Although experimentation with aluminum began in 1932 with the

United States Botanic Garden The United States Botanic Garden (USBG) is a botanical garden on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., near the James A. Garfield Monument. The Botanic Garden is supervised by the United States Congress, Congress throug ...

, commercial production was not economical until 1955. Major Lord & Burnham conservatories include: *

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, 1878-1879, a wood-and-glass greenhouse *

Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a botanical garden set in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a City of Pittsburgh historic landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The gardens w ...

Schenley Park Schenley Park () is a large municipal park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located between the neighborhoods of Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland, Greenfield (Pittsburgh), Greenfield, and Squirrel Hill. It is also listed on the Nat ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, 1892–1893 *

Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens are botanical gardens located within South Park in Buffalo, New York, United States. These gardens are the product of landscaping architect Frederick Law Olmsted, glass-house architects Lord & Burnh ...

, 1895–1899 *

New York Botanical Garden The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a botanical garden at Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, ...

, 1899–1902 *

Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Park Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Park is a state park located at 151 Charlotte Street in Canandaigua, New York, at the north end of Canandaigua Lake, in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York. The house and gardens are open t ...

Canandaigua, New York Canandaigua () is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,576 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county complex in the adjacent town of Hopewell. ...

, 1903–1915 *

Reynolda Gardens Reynolda Gardens are located in Reynolda Village, adjacent to the Reynolda campus of Wake Forest University and the Reynolda House, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The gardens are open daily with free admission. The gardens were originally pa ...

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

1912 *

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, 1933 * Volunteer Park Conservatory, Volunteer Park,

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, 1912 * Krohn Conservatory,

Eden Park, Cincinnati Eden Park is an urban park located in the Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The hilltop park occupies , and offers numerous overlooks of the Ohio River valley. History The park's acreage was purchased by the city in 1869 from Jo ...

, built 1933, restored by Lord & Burnham in 1966

Company archives and historic plans

The title to the company's archives was given to the Archives of the

in 1990, along with their historic architectural plans. The collection includes over 140,000 architectural plans for more than 7,000 glass structures.

Gallery

File:Conservatory of Flowers 1879.jpg, The

as it appeared in 1879, before its dome was replaced following a fire in 1883 File:DETAIL OF CENTRAL PAVILION - Lyndhurst, Greenhouse, 635 South Broadway, Tarrytown, Westchester County, NY HABS NY,60-TARY,1B-3.tif, Detail of the central pavilion of the greenhouse at Lyndhurst,

's mansion in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, Unit ...

(1971) File:Phipps conservatory.JPG, Phipps Conservatory,

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

File:Bridge Street 1800s.jpg, The Lord & Burnham Building on the

waterfront in the 1800s File:Lord and Burnham Building.jpg, The building has now been converted into apartments, and a new home for the Irvington Public Library (2007)

References

External links

Buffalo Gardens.com: "Crystal Palaces"
— ''article on Lord & Burnham''.
Guide to the Lord & Burnham Collection at the New York Botanical Garden
- ''resource that contains general historic information about the company, as well as a searchable database of historic glasshouse plans'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lord and Burnham Greenhouses in the United States Architects from Buffalo, New York Landscape design history of the United States Manufacturing companies based in New York (state) Companies based in Buffalo, New York Design companies established in 1849 Manufacturing companies established in 1849 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1988 1849 establishments in New York (state) 1988 disestablishments in New York (state) Defunct companies based in New York (state) Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange