Piper Palm House - Tower Grove Park

Pavilions • Music Stand • Fountains • Lily Ponds
Tower Grove Park has ten colorful
Victorian Pavilions, a Music Stand
surrounded by busts of great musicians,
heroic-scale statues of historic figures,
mock ruins, fountains, lily pools and of
course, the Piper Palm House.
Known not only for its outstanding
architecture and historic structures,
Tower Grove Park has a greater
diversity of trees and shrubs than
any other urban park in the country,
featuring over 340 varieties and more
than 8,000 specimens.
But the most important attribute of
Tower Grove Park is that it provides a
wonderful setting for enjoyable park
experiences, and has for over 125 years.
It continues to do so today.
The Piper Palm House and Stupp
Plaza are available for reserved use. For
more information, call the Piper Palm
House at (314) 771-4410.
Tower Grove Park
4256 Magnolia Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63110
314-771-2679
Tower Grove Park
Vernon W.
and Marion K.
Piper
Palm House
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

The Piper Palm House
Constructed in 1878, the Piper Palm House
is the oldest standing conservatory west
of the Mississippi River, and the most
historically significant building in Tower Grove
Park. The Palm House was built to house
the park’s ornamental tropical plants, which
decorated the park lawns during the summer
and were displayed inside the building during
the winter. It was designed by famed architect
George I. Barnett in the Italianate style.
Over the years, greenhouse functions moved
to other buildings and the building suffered from
a prolonged lack of maintenance. In late 1996,
the Park’s Board of Commissioners approved
a plan to completely renovate the 3,800 square
foot interior of this architectural gem, and adapt
it for public use once again. A one million dollar
campaign provided for complete restoration,
including the addition of new heating, cooling
and electrical systems allowing for year-round
Lichtenstein fountain at the
center of the gallery
use, day or night. The building was
renamed the Piper Palm House in
recognition of the principal donors to the
project, Vernon W. and Marion K. Piper.
A 435 square foot fully equipped
catering kitchen was added onto the
building’s north side, accommodating
food preparation and warming facilities
for several hundred guests.
A variety of species of palm trees,
plus citrus, sweet olive, ferns and other
tender plants line the original red brick
walks, and surround the six original
marble musicians’ busts that once graced
the nearby Music Stand. The Piper Palm House is
enhanced with native Missouri stone central flooring,
historic-design lighting, an elegant custom-built
bar, and the handsome Lichtenstein fountain urn
displayed in the center of the gallery.
Outside the front doors, the spacious Stupp Plaza
overlooks beautifully landscaped lily ponds.
Seating capacity of the Piper Palm House is
a comfortable 150 with use of the provided round
tables and chairs. More guests can be accommodated
at standing events or with combined use of the
building and plaza. A year round brunch/buffet, Café
Madeleine, is offered on Sundays from 10:00 AM -
2:00 PM, and is increasingly popular as a refreshing
oasis for Park visitors.
The Piper Palm House, with its distinctive
architecture, soaring ceiling and stately windows,
is the perfect venue for any social gathering, whether
it be a wedding or a birthday party. The plants,
The main gallery looking east
which are permanent fixtures in the building,
make it a magnificent and beautiful place to hold
a celebration.
Authentic horse-drawn carriage service can
be combined with Piper Palm House events for
an enjoyable and unusual treat.
Comparable to the Kensington Orangery in
London or the Pavillion du Lac at Parc Buttes-
Chaumont in Paris, the Piper Palm House
provides an ambiance unlike any in the region.
Tower Grove is one of only a small handful
of municipal parks in the country designated as
a National Historic Landmark. Donated to the
City of St. Louis in 1868 by Henry Shaw, its 289
acres make it the second largest park in the City.