A Stone’s Throw

1 The 600-square-foot structure was built at Tanglewood Conservatories in Maryland, then dismantled into approximately 200 numbered pieces and shipped to the Wellesley site for reassembly along with 1,000 glass roof shingles.

2 More than 100 plants from Winston Flowers — including specimens like this traveler’s palm from Madagascar — grow in the enclosure.

3 New wrought-iron vines, crafted by Breeze Hill Lamp, wrap around the 10-foot pole that suspends this antique chandelier from the apex of the octagonal room.

4 The motorized windows stay open in temperate weather; radiant heat or air conditioning kicks in during the winter and summer months. To hide all of the modern utilities, Norian Siani Engineering designed an intricate underground heating and cooling system.

5 Custom stained-glass windows made by Tanglewood Conservatories were inspired by San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers.

6 Jason Goodall of Table and Tulip comes once a week to water the plants and check for insects, rot, and any other problems. His favorite plant? This licuala palm.

7 Each planting bed has an underground drainage system with rigid insulation to isolate it from the room’s foundation and the outdoors.

8 The terrazzo floor’s limestone pattern, created by DePaoli Mosaic Company, matches an antique herringbone design spotted at Paris Ceramics in Boston.

9 French doors open to lush gardens designed by Isabel Wheat.  

10 A late-19th-century French majolica ceramic fountain rests on a custom granite top from A&B Marble and Tile.

11 The homeowner stocks the pool, supported by a subterranean pump and filtration system, with both butterfly and ginrin koi.

12 A separate entrance leads to a 90-square-foot grotto, which contains more plants and a zinc sculpture of Pan by J. W. Fiske.

Photograph by Mike Casey