Weir Greenhouse is a historic

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

located across the street from the main entrance of

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several bl ...

Sunset Park, Brooklyn Sunset Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, bounded by Park Slope and Green-Wood Cemetery to the north, Borough Park to the east, Bay Ridge to the south, and Upper New York Bay to the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was designed by George Curtis Gillespie and built in 1895 by James Weir, Jr., a Brooklyn florist who had been in business for 50 years when he built the greenhouse for the business he operated with his son and grandson. It is a rectangular, wood frame and galvanized iron building with projecting bays and domes in the Victorian commercial style. The main entrance is set at an angle to the street corner and is octagonal in form. The rooftop features an octagonal

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

with a ball

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

. Attached to the greenhouse is a one-story brick office structure. ''See also:'' The Weirs continued to operate the business until 1971, when they sold to the McGovern family. The building was designated a New York City Landmark in 1982. On February 2, 2012, the Weir Greenhouse was purchased by the neighboring

, which planned to preserve the greenhouse and restore elements which have decayed in recent years. By early 2015, structural stabilization of the vacant, decayed building was complete, and the project was scheduled to move toward restoration of the building to its 1895 appearance. , the restoration is still underway, but Green-Wood planned to convert the greenhouse into the cemetery's visitor center. The greenhouse was made a

New York City designated landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

in 1982. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1984.

References

External links

Lost City blog: Inside the McGovern-Weir Greenhouse
Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City Buildings and structures in Brooklyn Infrastructure completed in 1895 New York City Designated Landmarks in Brooklyn Sunset Park, Brooklyn National Register of Historic Places in Brooklyn {{Brooklyn-struct-stub