History
Designed by the architects Helmle and Huberty, who also designed the Boathouse, the 1910 Tennis House was built in response to the huge popularity of lawn tennis at the end of the 19th century.  Three hundred tennis courts crowded the Meadow, creating a need for a shelter and equipment storage.  Under pressure, Olmsted, now in a consultant capacity, chose the location in 1894, but the Tennis House was not completed until 1910.  Once lawn tennis fell out of favor the building continued to be used for storage.


                                                                      Postcard featuring lawn tennis on the Long Meadow, c. 1915

Restoration

By the 1980s the Tennis House had suffered a fire and had been vandalized for decades.  The elegant building was cleaned and restored and given new lighting, benches, and a wheelchair access ramp.  The Tennis House served as headquarters for the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment from 1995 to 2008.

Click here to see the Tennis House today.