Somehow, the advent of spring makes us crave
what we were missing all winter: the color green,
the smell of plants, and lazing about in the warm
sun, For centuries, however, clever people (and
wealthy monarchs) have had the resources to keep
the tropics nearby, even in the dead of winter.
What good is an empire on which the sun never
sets if you cannot see orchids midwinter or house
microclimates under glass that educate visitors
about far-off horticulture?

Long before sunrooms and four-season porches
were de rigueur in the American middle-class home,
the monarchs of Europe were transplanting sultry
climates into their cold climates. Outside of
Versailles, Louis XIV had a grove of citrus trees
imported from Portugal, Spain, and Italy. The trees
were planted in pots that could be wheeled indoors
when the temperatures dipped too low. The
building that protected the tropical trees came to
be known as an orangerie, after the grove it
protected.

The Louvre, in Paris, has l'orangerie, the famous
Second Empire addition that protected the tropical
trees of the surrounding Tuilerie Gardens. Long
ago, the small stone structure was transformed into
a museum. Orangeries were originally heavy stone
buildings that prevented the wild temperature
variations common to colder climates.

They prevented the deadly damage that freezing
temperatures would wreak on the fragile plants.
But orangeries were not only the domain of France.
The Tayloe House in Williamsburg, Virginia, has
the oldest surviving orangerie in the United States.

As developing industries made construction advances
possible, the orangerie began its transformation into
a glass house, or conservatory. The Industrial

Revolution meant that strong metal structures could

be built without relying on the thick masonry walls of early orangeries. Glass could be made in larger, flat panes that filled in the space between metal supports. These advances meant that buildings could be taller, more expansive, and let in much more light. The conservatory was born from the techniques of modern industry.

In 1851, Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria, sponsored the Great Exhibition in London. Councils and committees considered and rejected several plans for the Hyde Park location. Most designs featured too much masonry, which would take too long to install and would be difficult to remove after the exhibit. John Paxton, a gardener and architect with experience creating large conservatories capable of covering an acre of land, submitted a design that relied on the latest technology. His iron and glass building was lightweight, inexpensive to manufacture, quick to build, and east to dismantle.

The Crystal Palace, as it became known, was 400 feet by 1,800 feet. At its busiest, it saw 100,000 visitors in a single day. The 90 foot elm trees of Hyde Park were covered by this mammoth structure. This exposure to so many people pushed the popularity of conservatories in the Victorian era. If Paxton's work could cover 750,000 square feet, surely people could add on 200 square feet to their homes, thanks to the affordability of modern products.

Still, only the wealthy class had the land and property on which to build. As the years stretched on, however, the conservatory became more affordable to a wider group of people. Glass was mass produced, and steel and other support materials were manufactured more easily than in their early days.

By the mid-20th century, conservatories became sunrooms with the sloping roofs and clean lines of the era - even if that design did not mesh with the style of the house.

Today, adding a conservatory onto a house, or replacing an old one that doesn't complement the house's lines, require a balance of history, style, and realistic assessment. Alan Stein, Founder of Tanglewood Conservatories in Denton, Maryland, acknowledges that difficult balance. "Our approach is to listen to the spoken and unspoken cues that we get from the homeowners - not just about what they are adding to the house, but their thoughts on the functionality and about architecture and design in general." Stein listens to how much the client wants to be informed about historical appropriateness and creates a custom conservatory that blends in seamlessly with the style and history of the house. A well-designed conservatory or sun room fits the house perfectly because of the sense of proportion and scale.

Communication about design is the most important
factor of the addition, says Stein. Clients come to
Stein's firm for his skill and talent, but, "in the end,"
says Stein, "they say they feel like they designed it
themselves. That's how I know we've been a success
and listened to all of the client's cues." The balance
that the clients are seeking, and that which architects
like Stein put into real form, is what makes a quality
conservatory. The addition of glass, wood, and metal
needs to look like it belongs there; its quality stands
out because the building itself does not.

When Robert and Patricia bought their 1930s Tudor-
style house in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 2000, it
needed a lot of interior renovation. While restoring
the house, they kept thinking of the existing mid-
20th-century-style conservatory (just off the dining
room) and how it could be improved.

After tackling the heating, wiring, and plumbing in
the main house, they moved on to upgrading the
conservatory. The low, sloping roof was replaced
with a mahogany and glass structure that

"We added gables to increase the height of the room," says Patricia. The gables are visually appropriate to the house and make the room feel more open and spacious. "The design took months to finalize," she says, because they wanted it to be right. As Alan Stein says, it's foolhardy to do anything but a thorough job on such an important addition. Pieces for their building were numbered and shipped from the manufacturing plant and assembled on-site.

Because of the region's climate, it was important to take into account things like snow load and drainage to make sure the new addition would stand the test of time and the New England winters. The steel supports hold more than the 30 pounds per square foot required, just in case of a major snowfall.

The renovation also provided the
homeowners the opportunity to
upgrade the heating and air
conditioning. "It was state of the
art at the time it was built, giving
us the chance to add in modern
conveniences and accessories - like
low voltage lighting," says Robert.
"It's 80 degrees in there in February,
when it's minus 2 degrees outside,"
adds Patricia. They incorporated
tinted, low-emission glass into
the roof to limit the heat gain while
the clear glass in the walls keeps
an unobstructed view of the yard.

the interior features of the conservatory, which has art deco elements that echo the accent touches original to the house's interior. A pink marble lion's head fountain and mirrored wall were carefully restored. They had to call in specialists to move the marble away from the wall in order to fix the fountain works. "Between the marble and the stone wall," says Patricia, "we found old newspapers" that had been placed there when the conservatory was originally built. Out of respect for history, they continued the tradition for future homeowners who might have to repair the fountain. They placed editions of the Boston Globe declaring that the Red Sox had finally won the World Series behind the marble! Now the conservatory is used as a place to sit and read or to have friends and family over for brunch. Their orchids and other plants recall the structure's original purpose. Tanglewood's Stein says that the conservatory has come to a new level. While it was primarily an eat-in sunroom in the mid-20th century, it is now anything that clients can think of. "We've done rooms as horticultural showcases, dining rooms, great rooms, even pool houses and bedrooms. "People are no longer restrained in what these rooms can be."