The grounds of Gate of Heaven Cemetery are centered around a series of internal roads and pathways, which in combination, form the shape of the Latin Cross.

Despite the rapid growth in the city's population during the next 70 years, no new Catholic cemeteries were organized within the Archdiocese of Washington.

The Right Reverend Monsignor Edward L. Buckley of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle was aware of the need to plan ahead, however, and began advocating for the purchase of land for a new burying ground.

Gate of Heaven Cemetery was laid out around a 10-acre (4.05 ha) roadway which was designed in the shape of a cruciform and was lined with trees.

[5] The perimeter of Gate of Heaven Cemetery is bounded by Georgia Avenue, to the southwest; Connecticut Avenue, to the northwest; Peppertree Lane, Strathmore Local Park, and Strathmore Elementary School, to the northeast; and the Aspen Manor Shopping Center, Beret Neighborhood Conservation Area, and Beret and Bustleton lanes, to the southeast.

[6] Gate of Heaven Cemetery only used about half of its acreage when it opened in 1956, and only in the late 1990s began expanding onto its unused land.