William H. Williamson III Orchid Conservatory (Daniel Stowe Conservancy)

The garden owes its existence to Daniel J. Stowe, a retired textile executive from Belmont, who in 1991 set aside 380 acres of meadows, woodlands and lakefront for a botanical garden, with an initial gift of 14 million dollars. The landscape architecture firm EDAW designed the gardens, and the first 110 developed acres opened on 9 October 1999 around the Robert Lee Stowe Visitor Pavilion.

The orchid conservatory was the next major stage. Its construction was funded through a campaign co-chaired by William H. Williamson III, a long-standing volunteer who also chaired the garden's Board of Visitors and served on its Board of Directors. The glass house opened in 2008 as a year-round display of orchids and tropical plants, which a regional travel article presents as the only one of its kind in the Carolinas.

On 12 May 2022 it was renamed the William H. Williamson III Orchid Conservatory in recognition of his decades of service. On 17 April 2025 the whole institution adopted the name Daniel Stowe Conservancy as part of a rebranding as a conservancy. Sources differ slightly on the garden's public debut: Wikipedia dates the opening of the developed acreage to 1999, while a regional travel article gives 2000.

The conservatory is a glass house of 8,000 square feet, about 740 m², whose height reaches five storeys, leaving room for trees such as the cocoa tree and the orchid tree above the orchid displays. Inside, a waterfall is one of the main features of the planted interior. The sources consulted name neither its architect nor its builder.

The building stands about a hundred metres south-east of the Robert Lee Stowe Visitor Pavilion, the central building of the property, whose pale yellow stucco walls, twenty white Tuscan columns and copper roof give the heart of the garden a classical character. The glass house thus belongs to the developed core of a 380-acre property, where 30 acres of formal gardens, twelve fountains and some eight miles of trails were created to designs by the firm EDAW.

The conservatory is dedicated to orchids and tropical plants. The orchid displays draw on several major groups, among them Phalaenopsis, Cattleya, Dendrobium, Oncidium and Paphiopedilum, and are refreshed through seasonal orchid exhibitions. Among the tropical plants, the cocoa tree, the vanilla orchid and the orchid tree are singled out as highlights, and a waterfall completes the scene.

Open throughout the year, the conservatory provides a tropical counterpoint to the outdoor gardens in the cold months. Around it, the formal gardens and their fountains extend the visit, while the rest of the property keeps its meadows, woodland and lakefront.

The conservatory lies in the formal core of the Daniel Stowe Conservancy, near Belmont and close to Charlotte, a short walk from the Visitor Pavilion; entry is included in general admission. Allow about an hour for the glass house alone and half a day to add the formal gardens, the fountains and part of the eight miles of trails. The seasonal orchid exhibitions give reason to return at different times of year, and the conservatory makes the visit worthwhile even in winter. The property also has an off-leash dog park and shops.