Created from an unused overgrown hillside, this new terraced garden serves many functions for this private preparatory school located on the Cathedral Close. Bounded by a new stone perimeter wall that literally ties the school’s most historic classroom and administrative building with it’s nearby chapel, the garden serves many functions: it is a pathway for routine travel between the entry court of the Lower School (Grades 4-8) and that of the Upper School (Grade 9-12); a place of quiet contemplation for visitors, faculty and students; an adjunct outdoor space for the liturgy of the chapel, known as the “Little Sanctuary”, including weddings, baptisms, and fair weather gatherings; and, most importantly, it is a columbarium for the internment of select members of the school family.

The ashlar bluestone memorial walls are engraved with the names and dates of those interred beneath the gravel paths, and they act as retaining walls that create the terrace levels above and the space below that reveals the long obscured cornerstone from the Lane-Johnston Building’s dedication in 1909, for which the garden is named.

Designed in collaboration with Richard Burck Associates