The Rose Trellis Teahouse
The Rose Trellis Teahouse
A healing sanctuary for women, in a city ruled by men.
Climbing roses twine around the deep red wood of the trellis, their dark green leaves woven together until they block out what little sunlight is able to make it past the much larger warehouses that flank the narrow walkway. The warehouses are a modern addition to the area, built to meet the demands of the nearby rail yards. The teahouse was part of the old world, the last vestiges of a garden that once stretched from the lower markets to the train yards. As the city expanded, those gardens were tilled into the ground to make way for railways, roads, and warehouses. The climbing roses that shade the walkway were carefully trained many years ago from wild roses and are older than anyone alive can remember. They cover the trellis and the walls of the warehouses to create a living passageway that stretches nearly fifty paces to an aging enclosed gazebo. Visitors are known to take their time as they follow the slightly twisting pathway under the trellis, the subtle back and forth positions of the stepping stones an intentional design element to encourage visitors to slow their pace as they approached the teahouse. To let the concerns of their lives slip away. To even their breaths and calm their minds. The pathway leads to a glass doorway in a gazebo that had been a favored location for celebrations when the lands were ruled over by the [NAME] family. The gazebo is enclosed in stone and glass now and serves as the entry foyer for the teahouse. Here people can take a final moment to clear their minds and perhaps purchase select teas or elixirs to take home. Beyond the round room of the entry shop is the long rectangular tea room, where tables and chairs allow visitors to sit in small groupings to share in conversations or relax while sipping teas and enjoying the delicate cakes and cookies offered as accompaniments to the teas. Two of the original greenhouses remain and extend out from either side of the tearoom. To the west are the indoor gardens where many of the plants used in the teas and elixirs are grown. Plants that are known for their various healing properties. The greenhouse to the east has been converted into a place of rest, with beds and quiet areas where those who need extra care, or those in need of supervision while healing, can rest. It is not uncommon for women to take a room in the rest ward in the final days of their pregnancies, or even in the final months of their lives should they suffer from terminal conditions or be of venerable age. Between the greenhouses is a proper park-like garden area that has been covered by a wrought iron and glass dome to create a massive conservatory and place of healing in the heart of the industrial district.
Purpose / Function
Purpose of the building is to be a sanctuary for women in the city controlled by men. The people that run the building are practitioners of the healing arts of midwifery, herbalists, and similar healing professions. The Rose Trellis offers a place where women can relax and heal in the care of other women; physically, mentally, and spiritually.
The original purpose of the building was as part of a series of greenhouses and a party gazebo on the property of a baron.
Alterations
The gazebo, once an open area for celebrations, has been enclosed in stone and glass and connected to the two remaining greenhouses via the construction of a long narrow building to be a tea service room and a large conservatory built over a park-like garden.
Architecture
Redwood construction with wrought iron reinforcements and greenhouse glass in the style of Victorian era greenhouses. Glass is mostly lead-based, so has that rainbow effect with air bubbles and subtle wavy ripples in it.
History
It began as a gazebo and greenhouses on the lands of a baron.
When the train yards were started the land was absorbed into the city and most of the gardens and greenhouses were destroyed to make room for roads, train tracks, and buildings (mostly warehouses or factories).
Teas:
Black Tea
Chamomile Tea
Cinnamon Tea
Echinacea Tea
Ginger Tea
Green Tea
Hibiscus Tea
Lemon Balm Tea
Orange Tea
Passionflower Tea
Peppermint Tea
Red Bush Tea (Rooibos)
Rose Hip Tea
Sage Tea
Foods:
Blueberry Muffins
Buttercream Cookies
Cakes - mini, assorted
Cucumber Sandwiches
Curried-Egg Tea Sandwiches
Finger Sandwiches
Goat Cheese and Breads
Hazelnut Tea Cakes
Lemon Poppy Biscuits
Marmalade and Toast
Petite Fours
Pies - assorted
Scones (lemon, raspberry, orange, blueberry, etc)
Smoked Salmon on Bread
Sweet Potato Biscuits with Herbal Butter
Healing Tonics:
Chamomile and Honey Tonic
Ginger and Carrot Tonic
Ginger-Lemon Tonic
Ginger Tonic
Worker's Tonic [AKA: bousa: the beer pyramid builders drank.]
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