Hiding in plain sight on six acres on the south side of the Missouri Botanical Gardens is the National Garden Clubs headquarters.

You can read all about the history of this organization here. The open courtyard welcomes the visitor into the front entrance of the building.

Historic photographs give us a window into the fascinating interior, where a lightwell, replate with a circular skylight open to the elements, is the centerpiece of the building.

Designed by famous St. Louis architect Frederick Dunn, the building opened in 1959.

Rather appropriately for a garden club, the Modernist style is perfect, allowing for huge windows that let in the natural world, blurring the lines between the interior and exterior spaces.

Watch a video from the organization’s website here about the building.