BruceDLimber wrote:It's almost literally so given that it's very nearly in the center of the Arc!
I think to make a list, you would have to go through all of the Guardian's writings to see when the buildings were done. I don't know of any such list, so you might well have to make your own. You might also check Dr. Giachery's book about the Guardian.
Another building on Carmel built around the same time was the House of Abdu'l-Baha, farther down the mountain. Another early building was the Eastern Pilgrim House built by Mirza Jafar. You can read about it in Dr Ruhe's book and in Mrs. Khadem's book about the Hand of the Cause Mr. Khadem. These three were all built in the days of Abdu'l-Baha.
The Western Pilgrim House across the street and up the hill from Abdu'l-Baha's house was started during Abdu'l-Baha's lifetime but finished years later by Mrs. Collins, in the 1940s or 1950s I believe.
There is also the Old Western Pilgrim House across the street and down the hill from the House of Abdu'l-Baha. I do not know if it was built by the Baha'is as a pilgrim house, or if it was purchased and used for that purpose.
Another building, a very humble building, is a workshed near the Shrine of the Bab. It was used by the caretaker, and I heard that after his passing, the Guardian said that the man's services had been so devoted, that his workshed would last as long as the Shrine did. So he arranged for it to be moved several times during the work on the Shrine and gardens, and it is still there, directly to the west (i.e. towards the obelisk and Carmelite Monastery) from the Shrine of the Bab.
Another early building is very close to the Monument to the Greatest Holy Leaf. It was a house -- the Yazdi family lived in it during the days of Abdu'l-Baha -- and was then used as the architect's house during construction of the Arc and Terraces. Now I think it might be the offices for the Baha'i Holy Places Office.
Finally, I believe that the monument of Munirih Khanum is most central in the Monument gardens, lying on a straight line from the steps of the House of Justice Building, through the center of the gardens. From that point, to the right is the monument of Bahiyyih Khanum, and to the left, near the Archives Building, are the monuments of the Purest Branch and Most Exalted Leaf, Navvab.
Brent