Cylburn Arboretum and the Vollmer Center

Several weeks ago, my friend Sarah and I drove up to the Baltimore area to visit the Vollmer Center at the Cylburn Arboretum and walk the grounds. (We were also there to take in an exhibit of photos by my colleague Roger Foley, from a recently published book called On Walnut Hill, about a private garden in Baltimore.)

Cylburn Arboretum, over 300 acres in size, is open to the public year-round, with an historic mansion (available to rent for events) and miles of woodland walking trails. There are some cultivated garden areas up near the mansion, including one small garden space with a gazebo that was serving as the setting for a wedding when we saw it. 

There were also a number of beautiful old dissected Japanese maples on the grounds.

A shot from the inside of an area where four Japanese maples had grown up in a circular planting area, making them look like a single, enormous tree.

It was the area nearest the Vollmer Center (and the Center itself), however, that I found most appealing the day we visited. The Center, designed by GWWO Architects, is nestled down in the landscape below the Cylburn Mansion, built into a slope and boasting views into the surrounding trees that were nothing short of spectacular the day we visited. It is modest in both size and aspect but extremely well designed, and has a number of  “green” features, including geothermal heating and cooling and composting toilets. Hope you enjoy these photos of it and its surroundings, and do plan a visit if you’re in the area.

The Vollmer Center, nestled into a hill with an amphitheater area to the right forefront.

A view from the main, large room in the Center out to the surrounding woodlands.

Another view from the Center to the outdoors makes the space seem larger than it is.

A small patio area is located off to the side of the building, above the amphitheater steps.

Brilliantly planted approaches to the Center shine in the autum.

A Chinese pistachio tree – one of several planted near the Center – in brilliant fall color.

Tall grasses and a Persian parrotia tree take center stage.

Fall foliage seemed to be at its peak the day we visited.

Perennials and grasses in a planting farther away from the building.

The grey stone of the building is a foil for strong fall colors.

Foliage on a dogwood tree between the Center and the Mansion

The Mansion is visible at the crest of the hill between the trunks of these two trees.

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Tags: architecture, D600, design, fall, Nikon 24-120mm f/4, photography, public gardens, trees, view

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