The Villagers have generously funded various restoration projects for Montgomery Botanical Center’s 1930s buildings. The latest grant will help restore the walls of the Arthur Montgomery Guest House.
Designed by architect Robert Fitch Smith and completed circa 1934, the Arthur Montgomery Guesthouse is an important structure at MBC. Notable biologists have visited the guesthouse from as early as the 1930s, and this continues to the present day.
Dr. Arthur Montgomery, the youngest of Colonel Robert Montgomery’s sons, was one of the original 1959 incorporators of Montgomery Botanical Center. He was a noted mineralogist who founded what is now the Montgomery Botanical Fellows Program, which is continued through the Kelly Foundation. The Guesthouse was formally named the Arthur Montgomery Guesthouse in March 1992.
Dr. Patrick Griffith states, “Hosting visiting researchers who study our collections is one of the most important things we do at MBC. Support from The Villagers ensures that the Arthur Montgomery Guesthouse can continue to serve botanical science.”