Tanglewood – in the beginning
Tanglewood Conservatories was founded by the husband and wife team of Alan Stein and Nancy Virts in 1993.
Beginning in a 3,000 square foot warehouse, with little more equipment than a “contractors” table saw, the company began to design and assemble stock windows and doors into “conservatory-styled” home additions for customers in the Washington, DC area.
Alan had already been involved with numerous building projects when two of his customers requested he build them a “conservatory”. After researching manufacturers of prefabricated systems and finding none suitable, he decided to build them himself.
Several successful projects later, Alan and Nancy, by now enchanted with the concept of “crystal palaces”, decided to rename the company Tanglewood Conservatories and pursue their new passion. Nancy’s sense of connection between music and design stood behind her choice of the name which was taken from the well known music center.
Fifteen years later, the company occupies 40,000 square foot of space and employs 30 craftsmen, designers and staff. Our commitment is to design and build the best conservatories in the world, architecturally and technically, to build Tanglewood into a world-class company and to consistently deliver the best experience possible to our customers.
Our passion for these beautiful buildings, our desire for excellence in their design and construction and our love of new and engaging opportunities, has continually led us into deeper waters.
The initial concept of using “stock” parts from outsourced suppliers has long ago given way to a relentless drive to become a vertically integrated, well-controlled modern manufacturing company. At the same time, our desire to continually develop new products and approaches and to explore the use of new materials and techniques remains stronger than ever.
Current new endeavors include the design and construction of traditional cast iron and steel conservatories and greenhouses.