Discover a fascinating forerunner to modern horticultural therapy as you spend 90 minutes touring the grounds of the Richardson Olmsted Complex, which at one time stretched over 200 acres to the Scajaquada Creek.

First you’ll roam through the 9-acre South Lawn — a reimagined version of the therapeutic landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.  You’ll learn how this meticulously planned natural setting helped heal the mentally ill for more than a century — and how it is helping to revitalize an urban neighborhood today.

Your knowledgeable docent will then take you behind the scenes on the construction site and back to the days when a bustling, working farm occupied nearly 100 acres on site.  Patients engaged in “landscape-therapy,” helping to raise livestock, grow crops, milk cows, and tend fruit orchards and greenhouse flowers.  Not only did their work improve their own mental health, it also supported a largely self-sufficient institution. 

As an added bonus, you’ll see the inside of a former kitchen building — an exclusive on the grounds tour.  Also get a glimpse of the future of the buildings and grounds on this active construction site and learn about the exciting plans for Hotel Henry Urban Resort and Conference Center and the Buffalo Architecture Center, set to open in 2016.

Pre-registration required.

Please Note:

• Photography is not allowed on this tour.  For those interested in taking photographs, please see our photography tours.
• This is an EXTERIOR tour that also includes exclusive interior access to the kitchen. 
• This is an active construction site and hard hats will be provided.  It is IMPERATIVE that you stay with the tour group in the designated areas – there are very unsafe areas within the Complex buildings and grounds, as well as heavy construction. 
• For your safety, sturdy, closed-toe shoes are required.  We reserve the right to turn away anyone without appropriate shoes.  Under no condition will sandals or high heels be allowed. 
• Due to construction, the tour is not handicap accessible and requires significant walking.  Tour routes will vary with construction. 
• All Richardson Olmsted Complex tours are for ages 12 and up at this time. 
• There are no restroom facilities on site.