Tanglewood Conservatories Blog – Alan Stein's Writings about Custom Conservatory Design and More

Rob Ryan sent me the link to this video tour of the Original Fender Guitar Factory shot back in 1959!

This is a great video clip for anyone who has an interest in woodworking and in how thinks are made or in production processes. Knowing something about production processes for extremely high quality wood products I can relate to much of what I see here. I am especially fond of it because it shows the fledgling company making product by hand. I could relate to the scenes of guys cutting parts out on the different types of power saws and the apparent skill you can sense in their working the parts. There is a guy cutting out each guitar body one at a time on a band saw. It looks like he does the necks as well just using his eye as a guide. It reminds me of our roots 20 years ago, in particular, before the introduction of our CNC technology. I also like the guitar lick in the background.

If you look at this video, notice the guys playing the guitars on the shop floor at the very end of the clip. These guys could play these instruments and it’s very obvious that they really enjoyed doing it – probably under the guise of testing the products! I can see the pride that they have in producing these instruments all over their faces as they fool around jamming with the finished guitars.

So I was curious to see what the Fender production process looks like now and I found it in another video showing how the work is done today. This is video was done in their new shop in Corona, California.

Aside from being in a much more modern looking space, I was interested to see that though they have automated many facets of the production process, a lot of the work was still done by hand. I was especially surprised to see that some of the work which I thought lent itself to being automated was done by hand.

There a couple of cool shots of auto sanding machines doing the necks and other parts but it looks like they still cut the slots for the frets and insert the frets by hand.

Of course there are dust masks and other hazmat precautions in place as you would expect that weren’t in the older factory.

I love to look at these videos because they show me how others do some of the same things we do at Tanglewood. Sometimes, I see something and think wow, that would improve how we do something, other times, I think, wow, we are far ahead of them and could teach them a few things!

I also came across a video of a production plant in China making what looked like knock offs or reproductions of the Fender guitars.

This was also an eye opener as the Chinese plant looked much like the Fender plant did in 1959 but not nearly as well organized. In fact it looks like a complete mess. It is also evident that they lack the level of care that you can see in the people at the Fender shop. Though the work was pretty much being done by hand in the same way, it’s a completely different world. Also missing was any kind of hazmat control.

When it comes time to “test out” the finished guitars, the Chinese technician merely checks the tuning and functioning of the instrument with no such joy as the guys at the old Fender plant. I guess the electric guitar does not hold the same exalted place in popular culture and it does in the west.

Check out these videos.

Alan

Yes, as the title says, changes are coming but we are not taking anything away, we are adding! The team here at Tanglewood Conservatories is looking toward the future and soon you will begin seeing new pages appearing on the site. With this post, we want to tell you what the new page additions will contain. We know you will like what you see!

We want the focus of these new pages to provide more information on “Our Heritage” or the history of conservatories. We are adding to and improving this section with the intent that it will serve as a conservatory resource guide for you. One where anyone can come to learn more about the architecture of greenhouses, sunrooms, glass and steel pool enclosures, conservatories and the like.

Yes, Tanglewood Conservatories’ main business is creating and building steel and glass structures such as tropical palm houses, pool house cupolas, domes, lanterns and skylights but we also want to share our wealth of knowledge about the history of these magnificent buildings and how they came to be a part of the world’s architectural culture. Their significance in European culture and now American culture cannot be emphasized enough in architectural terms or in aesthetics; not to mention their practical uses such as greenhouses that allow fruits and vegetables to be grown out of season and in unfriendly outdoor climates.

Another reason for adding to Our Heritage section is that we want to highlight more of the world’s great conservatories. There are so many unique, magnificent and gorgeous examples of these architectural wonders throughout the world and we want to share them with you.

We hope you enjoy our new conservatory heritage pages. Perhaps they will help you learn more about our passion and why it is our passion. So go ahead, make a cup of tea, pour a glass of wine, or have a cappuccino, and sit back and join us on a journey through “Our Heritage.” We think you will enjoy your journey.

And remember, if you have any comments, suggestions or questions, we welcome them. Just click on the “Add a Comment” link at the top of this post and let us know what is on your mind.

Hello, my name is Danielle and I am honored to have been asked by Alan to begin contributing to the Tanglewood blog on a regular basis. I will be writing about all sorts of conservatory subjects and am excited to be a part of this blog. Please check back regularly and feel free to comment on any post that piques your interest. Now, on to my first post!

On November 22, 2010 a video featuring an interview with Alan Stein and Nancy Virts, founders of Tanglewood Conservatories, was posted on their web site. I hope you will take a few minutes to view it and learn more about what Tanglewood Conservatories does and how they go about doing it. You will hear Alan discussing their “artistic craftsmanship” and in the process see gorgeous examples of some of his and Nancy’s favorite conservatory, dome, skylight, and lantern projects.

You can view the video, plus conservatory videos, in the video section of the web site or you can click the “Watch Video” link from the home page, listed under the heading “LATEST VIDEO.”

I love what Tanglewood Conservatories brings to each of their projects. It is obvious that they care about each and every project. In the video you will hear Alan say that when they begin working with a potential client they look for a “unique synthesis of the client’s dreams, hopes and desires.” They start by “looking at the architecture of their home” and then they bring their “understanding of the traditions of the 19^th century” to the project. Alan says, “I like to think that with great architecture, you can change the way that people live their lives.” How exciting it must be to be a part of that! He goes on to say, “Every single project is individually handcrafted” and “it’s a complete adventure.”

People often wonder how and where Alan and Nancy first became captivated with conservatories. Not surprisingly, it happened while they were traveling in Europe. Unfortunately, in the United States, with “the dawn of mass production” the ability to build the conservatory type of “individualistic architecture waned” but because Europe has been building structures for centuries, there are many buildings featuring conservatories, domes and lanterns. Alan and Nancy decided to bring back this unique type of construction and in the process use special copper, steel and woodworking details to handcraft all of their projects.

“We have the capability to be able to figure out how to do it and how to do it in a really artistic and a great way,” says Alan. And, as Nancy says, “We are very passionate about our work and very serious about our work, and it starts from the first phone call ­– talking to the client, making that connection with that person. It actually transforms the way they live in their house.”

Their passion comes from the architecture; Alan is “a tremendous fan of the old historic buildings, the traditional conservatories.” According to Alan, conservatories in Europe were “engineering marvels” that were “built at the height of the industrial revolution.” Using steel and large panes of glass had just been invented; glazing roofs with glass was new, as was bringing plants indoors. These ideas are what gives Tanglewood Conservatories “the basis for [creating] this wonderful architecture.”

Alan and Nancy try to “listen carefully and try to discern [what the] driving force [is] behind each [conservatory, dome or lantern] project;” “once you understand that, then the design falls into place.” Each Tanglewood project “is as unique as a person is unique.” There is no other structure like a conservatory. Watch this video and you will see for yourself. Each conservatory is different from the last, and each conservatory is different from the next. As Nancy aptly puts it, you’ll “never, ever, ever find one exactly the same.” Alan follows this up by saying, “There is no other structure like a conservatory. It puts the full display of nature on view, all year ‘round.”

The music accompanying the video is Mozart’s DIVERTIMENTO 17 – Rondo (Allegro); it’s lovely and uplifting. Your hearing and visual senses will be delighted by watching Nancy and Alan explain what they do, why they do it, and how they do it. And dare I say why they love to do it!

Many people come to Tanglewood Conservatories interested in having us produce not a full conservatory or greenhouse, but a singular dome, cupola, roof lantern or skylight.

Last year, The Financial Times even featured one of our copper domes on their list of possible items to give that special person who already has everything.

Sometimes a conservatory is a larger project than a client want to tackle at the time. Sometimes it is cost, sometimes they just want a small accent for a specific part of their home.

The skylight above is just such a case. The copper and bronze folly mounts atop a pergola that connect two wings of the home. The curved glass dome echoes the heavy timbered brackets on the home and the custom cast bronze finials reflect the architect’s wonderful, fanciful vision.

It is typical of our custom glass and copper domes that each is individually designed- very often using details we’ve made up just for that project. Sometimes, we are trying to invent a look or express a concept in the same way a theater set might be conceived to evoke a feeling for the act.

This custom designed glass dome is built in the same manner as a Tanglewood greenhouse. There is an ornate steel structure exposed on the underside and the glass is finished with copper glazing bar caps. The top of the dome is clad with copper accented with the cast bronze finials.

Though small, a unique project such as this can put our skills to a considerable test! The architect for the home approached us with a loose concept for the glass dome he wanted and then let us develop the design.

Our design staff worked together with him to develop the dome skylight which turned out to be a true original. Of course we also had to consider how the glass dome would mount to the pergola which was to be constructed by the general contractor and to figure out how the new dome could be easily hoisted into place when it arrives on site completely assembled.

Funny enough, I just realized that the shape of this custom skylight dome is a lot like the great conservatory at Lednice which we visited in September and chronicled in my recent blog post “Steel and Glass Conservatories in the Czech Republic”. Hmmmm…

Nancy and I wish everyone a very happy holiday and New Year.

Alan

The landmark custom greenhouse conservatory in Druid Hill Park in Baltimore  is the subject of a new book. “Glass House of Dreams; Baltimore’s Victorian Glass Palace In The Park” by Margaret Haviland Stansbury and photographer David Simpson was just released by Palm House Publishing.

A book signing event was held at the conservatory on October 29th announced by a beautiful promo piece that captures the essence of the book on the greenhouse. It reads: “Glass House of Dreams celebrates the City of Baltimore’s Landmark Victorian steel and glass greenhouse palace – one of the surviving architectural treasures in the city’s historic Druid Hill Park. An extensive collection of original lithographic postcards illustrate the history of the 1888 botanical house, which is the second oldest in America.”

“Margret Haviland Stansbury the author is also founder of the non-profit Baltimore Conservatory Association, which worked with the city of Baltimore to bring this Victorian jewel back to life.”

“The original Palm House that featured 175 glass windows, many of them curved, is once again packed with exotic flora from around the world. The real excitement of this book is a portfolio of stunning new photographs by David Simpson. Simpson’s cutting edge photography not only captures the elegance of this architectural gem, but also presents us with intimate images that portray the beauty of its individual plants and flowers.”

“This book, celebrating the past, present and future of The Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens was just released.”

The conservatory in Druid Hill Park is one that is not often mentioned in the portfolio’s of great glass houses of America (or the world) and I was surprised to learn that it was the second oldest in the country.

In the later part of the nineteenth century, interest in conservatories reached America from Europe. The first American great public conservatory was constructed in New York City as part of the 1853 World’s Fair.

Philadelphia began construction of one shortly thereafter in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition there. Baltimore’s Palm House was actually one of four that were originally built in the city – one in Carroll Park one in Clifton Park and one in Patterson Park. The others have been demolished over time with only the Druid Hill Park Conservatory remaining.

It is an interesting design, more vertical and chunky looking than horizontal and sleek as are others of its grand cousins. At a time when conservatory and greenhouse design in America was soon to be dominated by the American firm of Lord and Burnham Greenhouses, the Druid Park conservatory designed by young architect George Frederick, stands out from the mold that became their notable style.

The Baltimore Sun ran a great article about the conservatory.

The new book can also be ordered from Margaret (Peggy) Stansbury.

It is worth a look.

Alan

Greeting from Deutschland.

Nancy and I arrived in Germany today on our way to look at a new conservatory project. We will be in Europe for two weeks and will make special visits to see some of the great historic European conservatories in Vienna, the Czech Republic, Budapest – and any others we can find.

Our initial meeting was in the Bavarian town of Rosenheim with Mr. Franz Wurm, Director of the Wintergarten-Fachverband conservatory association of which Tanglewood Conservatories is an honorary member.

Mr. Wurm was responsible for our visit last year when Nancy and I addressed the association meeting and made a presentation of our work to the group.

While in Rosenheim, we took the opportunity to visit the nearby Herrenchiemsee castle built by Bavarian King Ludwig II. The castle sits on an island in Lake Chiemsee which can only be reached by ferryboat. It was built from 1878 to 1885 and cost the current equivalent of about $124,000,000 USD.

The castle was modeled on the Palace of Versailles due to Ludwig’s great respect for King Louis XIV of France and includes a hall of mirrors, the ceiling of which is painted with twenty-five scenes of the French King. After Ludwig’s death in 1886, construction stopped leaving fifty of the seventy rooms unfinished.
The castle was one of the locations featured in the computer game The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery, which was set in Bavaria with a storyline that involved King Ludwig.

One of the interesting features of the castle was the way it is sited when it was built and what has been done with it since. From both the front and the back, long alleys cut through the woods directly on axis with the building creating vista’s all the way to the shore of the lake. You can stand on the fronts steps of the castle and peer through the forest all the way to the lake.

The shoreline at the front opens to a man made mooring for the boats of the time and on the far lake shore, directly across the lake (and also on center axis with the palace!), some modern day planner purposely situated a new public swimming pool palace!

I thought this was entirely appropriate, even if Lugwig would not have been so amused, because, outside the castle are very formal gardens with a series of exquisite fountains and pools that were the cutting edge of the technology of the day. How appropriate that the new swimming pool enclosure building, directly on axis with the castle and its garden fountains extend the illusion of sweeping space well beyond what the original monarch, in striving to portray his expansive greatness, might have imagined. In addition to being spatially related, the castle with its water gardens, the lake and the new swimming pool park are thematically related by the water.

The new swimming pool palace is also a modern marvel of technology. It is completely transparent with an ornamental wood structure inside and encloses a large water park where bathers can revel in the warm waters as if outside, year round. How techno-edge is that, Ludwig!

Of course the great irony is that the new swimming pool palace is a public space given over to the whim and folly of the commoners! As such, it is fitting that it is on the other side of the lake in contrast to the castle which was the whim and folly of the royalty on the other side!

Alan

We recently received an email from Ken Tate, the project architect for the large renovation project that incorporated a Tanglewood Conservatories steel and glass pool pavilion. Ken is a pretty high level architect and has been named as one of the top 100 architects by Architectural Digest magazine. It was for the project that was featured in Architectural Digest magazine in July and included a full page interior picture of the custom pool house we designed and built.

Ken wanted us to have a testimonial from him and wrote:

“My experiences with Tanglewood Conservatories have been exceptional ones…from the early design and coordination phase, to the shop drawing and construction phases. Tanglewood is a couture conservatory company, meaning that every detail is custom designed and all shop construction is overseen personally by the owner Alan Stein himself! And Alan, being an architect, is always refining the smallest details. My first project with Tanglewood was featured in “Architectural Digest “ (July 2010 page 89) as part of a feature article on the house that the conservatory was attached to. So, the “proof-is-in-the-pudding”.

Ken Tate Architect

Aside from just being a great recommendation and making us feel really good, Ken points to one of the defining features of Tanglewood Conservatories. While many conservatory builders refer to themselves as “custom” or “bespoke”, what they are mainly commenting on is their ability to mix and match their standard parts to make different looking conservatories.

What we did for Ken was to conceive an entirely new way to build a conservatory, using entirely new materials – steel and glass instead of wood, based on his desire to have an “old world” steel and glass conservatory.

The fact that Tanglewood Conservatories is willing and able to explore with architects and clients how best to achieve their vision without limitation– no matter where it leads, is what makes the company’s approach completely unique.

Yes, other conservatory builders make conservatories that look like some of ours and we make some that look like theirs, but Tanglewood is pretty unique when it comes to our ability to listen to our clients, both their expressed desires as well as the not as obvious ones and to build rooms that capture the essence of their dream in great ways they had not even thought of.

Alan

I hope everyone has had a chance to look at the new video’s we’ve posted in the video section of our site. They are also linked from our Homepage in the area called Latest Video.

The ones titled “A View Inside –
Tanglewood recreates the grand conservatory at Biltmore Estate are very interesting. Part One shows a very unique conservatory project being created in our workshop and Part Two shows the installation of the same custom conservatory on the job site. It gives everyone more of an insight as to how our beautiful conservatories are created.

This particular custom conservatory had as it’s inspiration, the great historic conservatories at the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, North Carolina. On the estate are several conservatories, the one on the main house which is just off the main entrance hall being the one that the owner of this latest Tanglewood conservatory project fell in love with and wanted Tanglewood to recreate.

The other classic conservatories are in the garden and serve horticultural purposes. These are beautiful steel and glass greenhouses much like many of the other grand conservatories of the age.

The conservatory video titled: “The Design Process-
Working together with clients to create their dream conservatory” is about how our process works with a client when we are designing their conservatory. This is the story of our journey with the owners to create their dream conservatory.

From our first meeting with Molly and Michael, it was clear that theirs would be a most unusual project. They were actually looking for a custom designed greenhouse at first but after visiting Tanglewood’s workshop decided in favor of one of our beautiful mahogany conservatories instead. The custom greenhouse would come later.

I hope everyone takes a look at these videos.

Alan

The annual convention of the American Institute of Architects, this year held in Miami, wrapped up last week after four days of seminars, workshops and exhibitions.

Attendance seemed to down quite a bit from years past however the strong program was welcomed by everyone I spoke with. Many attendees make a point of coming for the continuing education credits available.

Our attendance gave us a great opportunity to get out and about the fashionable South Beach historic district.

Running right through town is Ocean Drive, a hip see and be seen corridor of cool shops, eateries overflowing the sidewalks and super cool hotels.

The coolest by far is the elegant and historic Delano Hotel, originally named in honor of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and renovated in the mid 1990’s with Madonna as a partner.

Entry to the main lobby is gained through archways in the mature topiary which encloses the entire front of the hotel and sets the stage for the magical, surreal interior. Once inside, twenty-foot tall, white sheer drapes divide the cavernous hall in to intimately crafted “stage sets” of elegant variety. Sparsely decorated with the most unusual of pieces, a fantasy atmosphere somewhere between Alice in Wonderland and the Arabian Nights flows through onto to the back patio, down the wide grassy steps to a lawn surrounded by a village of private cabanas and then out to the pool.

Palm-tree lined Ocean Drive is also lined with an amazing concentration of tropical, Art Deco architecture, the largest in the world. The entire Deco District consists of about 800 of these remarkable pastel treasures originally built in the 1920’s through 1940’s.

The entire, wonderfully eclectic concoction of pink, peach, lavender and teal buildings is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Most of the buildings are small to midsized hotels with restaurants and shops at street level.

I noticed an interesting feature on many of the buildings. At first glance, they appeared to be decorated with beautiful, subtly shaded marble panels. However as I got closer, I realized it was actually coral, not marble, I suspect cut from the tropical reefs offshore!

The entire South Beach area is a unique national treasure, so purely American, a must stop on any tour of great Americana.

Alan

Drew Greenblatt, CEO Marlin Steel Wire Products, myself, Greg Moores, Senior Product Designer, DeWalt tools, and Mike Galliazo, Founder of the Regional Manufacturing Institute at our presentation to the Woodworking Industry Conference.

My recent trip to Monterey, California was a huge success. I was invited to participate in the Woodworking Industry Conference as a panelist discussing “Going $ Green; What woodworking companies are doing to become green”.

Conference attendees were interested to hear about Tanglewood’s multifaceted approach to sustainability and green issues. We feel it is important to keep pushing our conservatory company to become better stewards of the environment and the resources we use.

At the conference, I spoke about our efforts to become a completely paperless company, to reuse as much of our scrap material as possible, to utilize raw materials form sustainable sources and to incorporate cutting edge technology into our products and processes.

One of the most exciting aspects of our push towards greater green is the introduction of existing green technologies into our projects. The use of photovoltaic’s is a great example. There are presently glass products on the market that act both as photovoltaic generation panels and semi-transparent panes of glass that can be incorporated into the roof or windows of a “green” conservatory. This technology has been available for several years and is getting better all the time.

One client recently approached us with a request to use such a product in his conservatory design and we were able to locate a source and design it into his conservatory.

At the conference, I also spoke about other opportunities for incorporating green technologies into our conservatories through the inclusion of products already fairly commonplace in buildings such as geothermal heating and cooling, LED lighting and wind turbines for electricity generation. The object of using these products is to lessen the energy impact of a conservatory (or any other type of building) project.

There is already a lot of interest in this kind of inclusive broad based approach to the greening of our projects.

These kinds of specialized solutions fit well with Tanglewood’s design philosophy which values the complete flexibility to respond to each customer’s unique requests whether technological, architectural or functional.

Alan