Page 33 - The Hunt - Winter 2024

PLANTS FROM THE CASCADE GARDEN HAVE BEEN RELOCATED TO A NEW 3,800-SQUARE-FOOT GLASS HOME. “WE’VE PUT IT BACK TOGETHER LIKE AN ENORMOUS PUZZLE,” SAYS
SHARON LOVING, LONGWOOD’S CHIEF OF HORTICULTURE.
dictates, and a shading system is effective in both summer and winter. Temperatures are regulated by 10 earth ducts buried below the surface, and rainwater is collected from the roof and stored for use in the water features.
“Conservatories are inherently energy- inefficient—they consume a tremendous amount of energy,” says Weiss/Manfredi partner and cofounder Marion Weiss. “Here we offer a contrast and a new paradigm:
a living, breathing building. Just as the plants inside the conservatory are nourished by light, air and water, this living, breathing building is animated by these very same elements.”
Over 70 plant species can be found among the conservatory’s seasonally changing “islands,” accented by pools, canals and low fountains. For this project, New England-based landscape designer Reed Hilderbrand took his inspiration
from the Mediterranean Basin, the Cape Region of South Africa, coastal California, Central Chile, and South and Southwestern Australia. Aloes, laurels, blueblossom and Greek horehound cover the ground, while cypress and 100-year-old olive trees draw the eye upward toward suspended plantings. “There are dozens of plants that we haven’t been able to showcase in the past,” says Sharon Loving, Longwood’s chief of
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