Subscribe RSS News FeedIn Asheville, North Carolina, you will find a 250-room mansion designed for George and Edith Vanderbilt. An amazing construction built on the lines of a French chateau on steroids, it is...
Posted on 08 May 2008 by Richmond Oak
Even though the restored Palm House at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden no longer has plants within it, this doesn’t mean that there are no longer any working conservatories in the...
Posted on 07 May 2008 by Richmond Oak
The splendid looking Palm House in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens in New York was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead, and White; probably the leading architectural firm in the...
Posted on 06 May 2008 by Richmond Oak
Here are our monthly words of advice from Philip Miller, author of The Gardeners Kalendar. Even though this was published in 1769; the advice he gives is still most useful, and if you have orange trees in your conservatory or...
Posted on 05 May 2008 by Richmond Oak
Continuing my story about the conservatories at Duke Gardens, Somerville, NJ, from yesterdays news when I wrote about the Orchid Range, today I’m writing about the Indoor Garden...
Posted on 04 May 2008 by Richmond Oak
The conservatories at Duke Gardens, Somerville, NJ will be closing on the 28th May, so if you wish to see them as the owners originally planned them, you just have a few days left before...
Posted on 03 May 2008 by Richmond Oak
If nothing else indicates how popular conservatories are becoming, a story from The Northern Echo gives you a good indication. The newspaper reports that thieves have stolen everything of value from a luxury...
Posted on 02 May 2008 by Richmond Oak
If you really want to open your house into the garden, consider the many benefits of specifying sliding doors or folding doors into your conservatory design. Folding or sliding doors open far wider than...
Posted on 01 May 2008 by Richmond Oak
Concluding the story of the Como Conservatory started here two days ago. In 2002 the St Paul Parks & Recreation Department submitted plans to the…
Posted on 30 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
Continuing the story of the Como Conservatory started here yesterday. After many years of neglect, the Como Conservatory was partly restored in 1953 and again...
Posted on 29 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Como Conservatory, now known as the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory, in Como Park was built in 1915. The park opened in the late 1880’s after some local wrangling over money. It had been back...
Posted on 28 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
Mapperton Hall near Bearminster in Dorset was built in the reign of Henry VIII by Robert and Mary Morgan. Robert was one of a select company of men who were allowed to wear their hats...
Posted on 27 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
Many of the national papers today ran a story about an innovative eco-friendly home in a Cotswold nature reserve being sold for a £7.2 million. Many of them claimed this was a...
Posted on 26 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
The 1st Earl of Portland; William, Baron Bentinck, 1649-23 was a Dutch and English nobleman who early in his life became a friend and close advisor of William Henry, Prince of Orange...
Posted on 25 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Lucille Halsell conservatory in the San Antonio Botanical Gardens, Texas, had to be designed with very different considerations than a conservatory built in Europe. While we worry about...
Posted on 24 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
News reaches me that a builder who was not paid for the £22,000 porch and conservatory he built for a customer has taken revenge by demolishing his own handiwork. I just wanted to reassure you that...
Posted on 23 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
I read that a plane tree in Mayfair has been valued at £750,000, making it Britain’s most valuable tree. The plane trees in Berkeley Square are supposed to be among the oldest of their kind in central London, having been...
Posted on 22 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
When I first saw the photograph below, I thought it was a conservatory on the side of a hill. Then when I took a closer look and read more about it, I discovered it was a...
Posted on 21 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
I have mentioned Frank Lloyd Wright in these pages before, when describing the Boettcher Conservatory in the Denver Botanic Garden designed by Horbein and White and influenced by...
Posted on 20 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
If you have a Georgian or Victorian style traditional conservatory, you might like to complete its setting by using furniture inside and out from the same period. Metal began to be used for...
Posted on 19 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
I’ve written about the Great Conservatory in Syon Park before, but I thought I’d write about some of the people involved in its construction; first of all Thomas Cundy, builder of the...
Posted on 18 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
At Tregothnan Gardens in Cornwall a Wollemi Pine has just produced its first cones. Nothing surprising in that you may think, but the 2 million-year-old Wollemi Pine, was thought to have been...
Posted on 17 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
They’ve built a new conservatory at Kew Gardens, not a traditional conservatory, but a gallery specially designed to “conserve” Botanical Art rather than plants. The Shirley Sherwood Gallery...
Posted on 16 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
I was fascinated by a TV programme last night about the printing of the Gutenberg Bible in 1455 and went off to find out when the first book on gardening was printed...
Posted on 15 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
From time-to-time I come across information that will enable me to update the History of the Orangery on our website. I’ve already noted the word "orange" to describe the...
Posted on 14 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
In our Conservatory Advice section of our website, you will find a section devoted to Garden Furniture, but until I add this to it, there is nothing there at the moment about wire furniture...
Posted on 13 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Gardens at Killruddery House are the oldest in Ireland still surviving in their original 17th century style. The Orangery was designed and built by William Burn, the Scottish architect in...
Posted on 12 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
I’ve written before in these pages that “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t…!” and the traditional solution has been to go indoors to do whatever you want to do, or...
Posted on 11 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
Walking around the Glassex exhibition the other day while there to pick up our Gold Award (did I mention that!) in the Conservatory of the Year Competition, I...
Posted on 10 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
We were delighted to receive two more awards for our conservatories at Glassex 2008 yesterday. Judges in this national competition to find the best conservatories built in the past 12-months...
Posted on 09 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
Since the Royal Mint announced a new issue of coins last week, a number of coin collectors and old fogies have been up in arms about playing around...
Posted on 08 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
Here again are our monthly words of advice from Philip Miller, author of The Gardeners Kalendar. Even those this was published in 1769; the advice he gives is still most useful, especially...
Posted on 07 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
Yesterday was one of those days when you can have all four seasons in a single day. Is it only in the UK that you can have a day like this? The early morning was bright and...
Posted on 06 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Druid Hall Conservatory in the Botanic Gardens in Baltimore is another conservatory I featured a few days ago in the conservatory postcards…
Posted on 05 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
The original Mitchell Park Conservatory that I illustrated from an old postcard yesterday stood in the park from 1898 to 1955 when due to it…
Posted on 04 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
Just for a change today, here are some interesting old photographs of conservatories in the USA and Canada, when I find out more about them...
Posted on 03 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
I’ve mentioned Chance Brothers several times when writing about conservatories of the late 19th century; in the History of the Conservatory and the building of the Crystal Palace. So today…
Posted on 02 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
Within the grounds of St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, you will find a fine original Victorian Conservatory. I was surprised to find one there as I associate St George’s Park with...
Posted on 01 Apr 2008 by Richmond Oak
Marston & Langinger is an old and respected conservatory company that we often come up against when quoting for the design and installation of conservatories, orangeries and...
Posted on 31 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
If writing about famous conservatory designers, it’s usually to do with some grand design in a botanic garden, but I found this small Victorian Conservatory designed by a famous author for an even more...
Posted on 30 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Designing a conservatory is one thing, having the talent and engineering skill to build one is something else indeed. In our business our CAD designers have to translate the ideas of our designers...
Posted on 29 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Continuing the story of the Climatron in the Missouri Botanical Garden started yesterday, just 28-years after it had been built it had started to fall apart. Frits W. Went, the Director of the Garden, had been...
Posted on 28 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Climatron, the 24,000 sq ft geodesic dome said to be the first ever used as a greenhouse, is the major attraction of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. It was built in...
Posted on 27 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Founded in 1859, the Missouri Botanical Garden, sometimes known as "Shaw’s Garden" after its founder Henry Shaw, is one of the oldest botanical institutions in the USA...
Posted on 26 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
I have written previously about the Chiswick House Conservatory, not realising that it should more correctly be described as a Camellia House. It has a central dome...
Posted on 25 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Quad City Conservatory at Rock Island Illinois, is a contemporary conservatory that opened in 1998. Next to the Mississippi River, the conservatory covers...
Posted on 24 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
I've discovered a very unusual conservatory with a beautiful roof that could be the inspiration for a contemporary conservatory today. Strictly it is a Fernery and not a conservatory and...
Posted on 23 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Wilhelma Botanical Gardens together with a Zoo can be found in Bad Cannstatt, a suburb of Stuttgart. The gardens and the buildings were created for King Wilhelm I and...
Posted on 22 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Birmingham Botanical and Horticultural Society in Edgbaston originally managed the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The Society was founded in 1829 by subscription, when...
Posted on 21 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Palm House in Sefton Park was a gift to the City of Liverpool from Henry Yates Thompson, a local philanthropist and replaced a Band Pavilion that had been...
Posted on 20 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Opened on 16th January 1877, the Bournemouth Winter Garden had been built a short distance from the pier in this fast expanding Dorset town that had only been founded in 1810 and where the...
Posted on 19 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Continuing the story of the conservatories at Longwood Gardens that I started yesterday here’s some information about the Palm House that’s built also there. Designed by...
Posted on 18 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
The 22 individual conservatories at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania together create one of the world’s largest connected conservatory structures covering over 150,000 sq ft and rival those at...
Posted on 17 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Today I’m continuing on the theme of famous conservatory architects by writing about Victor Horta who worked with Alphonse Balat on Balat’s later conservatories at Laeken...
Posted on 16 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Alphonse Balat (1819 – 1895), responsible for the conservatory complex at Laeken, received his degree in architecture in Antwerp in 1838. In 1846 Balat moved to Brussels and...
Posted on 15 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
What does the new British Airways terminal at Heathrow have to do with conservatories you may ask, well other than being an interesting piece of engineering, let me explain...
Posted on 14 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Yesterday I wrote about the Winter Garden at Laeken in Brussels, today it is the turn of the Congo Greenhouse or Conservatory.
Posted on 13 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
The spectacular Royal Glasshouses at Laeken on the outskirts of Brussels provide a variety of climates in an area covered by nearly five acres of glass...
Posted on 12 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
It’s been a bit windy the past couple of days in case you hadn’t noticed and if this means it has been a little draughty in your conservatory, you should take a look at our new sister website ReplacementConservatory
Posted on 11 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Conservatories get called by other names from time to time, today let’s take a look at a Winter Garden. The Sheffield Winter Garden is one of the largest temperate conservatories to be...
Posted on 10 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Continuing the story of the Boettcher Conservatory, in the first part of the story I hinted that the concrete structure would develop problems in the future...
Posted on 09 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Boettcher Conservatory in the Denver Botanic Garden is the largest single structure tropical conservatory in the United States. Commissioned by Claude Boettcher, a member of the philanthropic...
Posted on 08 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
In Heaton Park, Manchester, there is an orangery built in about 1823 for the 2nd Earl of Wilton. Heaton Park, four miles north of Manchester is owned by the local council and...
Posted on 07 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Hyder Ali originally commissioned the Lalbagh Botanic Garden in the southern part of Bangalore in 1760, but his son, Tipu Sultan, completed it. Covering 240 acres the garden contains a glasshouse...
Posted on 06 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Built to celebrate Australia’s Bicentenary in 1988, the Bicentennial Conservatory in the Adelaide Botanic Garden is the largest single span conservatory in the...
Posted on 05 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
The conservatory, or Palm House, in the Adelaide Botanic Garden, South Australia, is a prefabricated structure that was made in Bremen, Germany and shipped half way round the world to...
Posted on 04 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Opened in July 2007, the Tropical House in the National Botanic Garden of Wales was designed by architect John Belle who donated his services…
Posted on 03 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
The National Botanic Garden of Wales is the first national botanic garden to be created in the United Kingdom for over 200 years. Laid out on the site of the Middleton Estate, a Regency Parkland in...
Posted on 02 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
Time once again for our monthly words of advice from Philip Miller, author of The Gardeners Kalendar that he published in 1769. ” Water your Orange-trees, Myrtles, Bays, Amomum Plinii, and other...
Posted on 01 Mar 2008 by Richmond Oak
The History of the Orangery is one of the popular pages on our website. Written about a year ago, it deserves a few updates as our knowledge of orangeries increases. So here’s a new item...
Posted on 29 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
I recently came across an old photograph of a conservatory at Sandringham House, originally published in the Strand Magazine in April 1893. Delving deeper, I found...
Posted on 28 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
Although the first botanical garden in Copenhagen was established at the University as far back as 1600 it was nearly a hundred years before...
Posted on 27 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Tropenhaus in the Berlin Botanical Gardens was built between 1905 and 1907 and like the Mediterranean Conservatory was designed by Alfred Koerner. But this one is…
Posted on 26 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
Looking like some Disneyland Castle, the Mediterranean Conservatory in the Botanic Gardens in Berlin, has twin spires at either side of its main entrance...
Posted on 25 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
A number of articles I wrote early on in conservatory news have for some reason disappeared, so I'm repeating a few of them because of their importance to the history of the conservatory...
Posted on 24 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
Have you seen the conservatory sequence in the BBC Programme Room 101? In case you’re not familiar with it, each week a guest has to...
Posted on 23 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
Over 160 years, conservatory design has increasingly influenced the architecture of public buildings and homes. The other day I stumbled across this stunning house with walls...
Posted on 22 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
Self Build and DIY conservatories and orangeries are a way of saving money on a new conservatory, but it’s not something we can recommend unless you have some building experience...
Posted on 21 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Kibble Palace in the Botanic Gardens Glasgow, is Scotland’s answer to Crystal Palace and the Palm House at Kew. It was originally a conservatory in the grounds of the home of John Kibble at…
Posted on 20 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants. In 1763 it moved to its present site and the...
Posted on 19 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Botanical Gardens in Sheffield were established by local residents concerned about the lack of public open space in their city. They formed the Sheffield Botanical and Horticultural Society and...
Posted on 18 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
Located in the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin; the Bolz Conservatory is a diamond-domed building that opened in...
Posted on 17 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada you will find four stunning pyramid conservatories designed by architect Peter Hemingway. Hemingway, who was born in England and moved to Edmonton when...
Posted on 16 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
As well as the Palm House I wrote about yesterday, there is also an orangery in the 63-acre park at Bicton. It overlooks the Italian Garden, laid out in...
Posted on 15 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
Built in the 1820’s the Palm House at Bicton is set in magnificent gardens in East Devon’s picturesque Otter Valley near Exeter. The conservatory is listed Grade l by...
Posted on 14 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
Following on from my item about the first Schwetzingen Orangerie, here is the story of the second one. When the Elector developed an interest in exotic plants, Nicolas de Pigage had to...
Posted on 13 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
There are two orangeries in the garden of Schwetzingen Castle near Heidelberg and today I’m writing about the older one. Built for Carl Theodor, the Elector Palatine...
Posted on 12 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Heritage Lottery Fund has just confirmed a final award of £7.6 million towards the £11.7 million restoration of Chiswick Gardens, including the conservatory...
Posted on 11 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
Hidden in the gardens at Longleat House in Wiltshire, you will find an orangery commissioned by the 2nd Marquess of Bath (1765 - 1837) who employed Jeffry Wyatville to...
Posted on 10 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
A Grade ll listed Orangery in Lambeth that was once part of the Henry Thornton estate, has recently received a grant of £25,000 to help restore it to its former glory. The Orangery is...
Posted on 09 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Burggarten (Castle Garden) Palmenhaus (conservatory) in Vienna was built between 1901 and 1906 and is an important landmark in the Austrian capital. Its architecture is a mixture of Baroque and...
Posted on 08 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
After 130 years in the Palm House in Schonbrunn, the imperial "Sisi Palm", named after the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I, is going to be cut down. Already 40 years old when it was planted in the...
Posted on 07 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
Yesterday I wrote about the second largest Orangery in Europe in Vienna; today a short item on the largest conservatory in Europe in the same city...
Posted on 06 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Schonbrunn Orangery in Austria, 189 metres in length and 10 metres wide, is after the one at Versailles, the second largest orangery in the world. There was already an orangery garden...
Posted on 05 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Zwinger in Dresden, Germany is the city’s most famous landmark. A baroque complex of pavilions and galleries, like many of Dresden’s most prominent buildings, it was...
Posted on 04 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
At Stowe House in Northampton you’ll find a building called a Menagerie, which is sometimes known as an orangerie. If you are confused...
Posted on 03 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
Croome Park in Worcestershire was Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown’s first complete landscape design, begun in 1751 commissioned by George Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry. The house at Croombe was...
Posted on 02 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
Time for our monthly words of advice from Philip Miller, author of The Gardeners Kalendar that he published in 1769. ”If this month proves severe (as it often happens), you must be...
Posted on 01 Feb 2008 by Richmond Oak
Warwick Castle was founded in 1068 and has been rebuilt and updated several times. The castle provides a great day out for...
Posted on 31 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
Sezincote House in Gloucestershire is home to a unique orangery; but more on that in a moment. The word Sezincote is derived from...
Posted on 30 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
Purchased by the 1st Earl of Shelburne in the mid 18th century, Bowood House and Gardens in Wiltshire have been improved by...
Posted on 29 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
The house at Wrest Park built in 1834-39 was inspired an 18th-century French chateau and is set in over 90 acres of gardens. Its owner, Thomas Philip, 2nd Earl de Grey...
Posted on 28 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
Heveningham Hall in Suffolk was designed by Sir Robert Taylor with interiors by James Watt and landscaped by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. Based on an original...
Posted on 27 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
This beautiful Orangery was designed by the well known architect Edwin Lutyens for the Edwardian Garden at Hestercombe in Somerset...
Posted on 26 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
Did you miss our conservatory news yesterday? In case you did and didn't follow the link to the website you can take a look at it here:
Posted on 25 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
We've recently updated our sister website which covers the subject of conservatory design to include a short introduction to conservatories, their design and architecture. If you are looking for...
Posted on 24 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
In the gable above a conservatory or orangery door you will usually find a fanlight, typically semicircular or semielliptical with glazing bars radiating within it from a central floret like a...
Posted on 23 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
In yesterday’s item about Barton Seagrave Hall Orangery, I mentioned Humphry Repton as being the architect. I also mentioned that the orangery had a...
Posted on 22 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Orangery at Barton Seagrave Hall in Northamptonshire is a Grade I listed building, currently undergoing restoration funded by English Heritage. The earliest parts of the Hall are...
Posted on 21 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
Many peoples first experience of a conservatory would have been while playing the board game Cluedo and trying to work out who had murdered Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in the US version called...
Posted on 20 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
Completing yesterdays story about Monet and the Orangerie, here ’s the building on the opposite side of the Tuileries Gardens from the Orangerie. Built a year earlier in...
Posted on 19 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Orangerie des Tuileries in Paris was built in 1852 during the reign of Napoleon III. Designed by architects Firmin Bourgeois and Ludovico Visconti, you can find it...
Posted on 18 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
If you have an old conservatory that needs replacement, here are a few things you should consider before embarking on your replacement conservatory project...
Posted on 17 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
We are frequently asked about the Value Added Tax rates on conservatories and orangeries, so to clear up any confusion, we have added a new section on VAT to our Conservatory Advice pages...
Posted on 16 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Great Vine in Hampton Court Palace Gardens is the oldest and largest known vine in the world and is housed in an old-fashioned conservatory that is more like a...
Posted on 15 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
For the third year running one of our conservatories has won an award at the annual Conservatories Online Awards. Not bad, we have only entered for the past three years and...
Posted on 14 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
In January many conservatory manufacturers and installers offer conservatory sale prices and conservatory discounts to attract customers. For example...
Posted on 13 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
Here's the concluding part of my story about the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago that celebrates its 100th birthday this year. After he had built the waterfall in the fern room of the conservatory...
Posted on 12 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
Here's some more information about the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago that celebrates its 100th birthday this year. The conservatory was built by Hitchings Company of New York, founded in...
Posted on 11 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago, USA celebrates the centenary of its opening this year. Four and a half acres in size, it replaced three earlier conservatories on the site...
Posted on 10 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
The Conservative Wall at Chatsworth, so called because it was designed to conserve plants was built by Joseph Paxton in 1848. It is a series of greenhouses running...
Posted on 09 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
Further to my item on Another Type of Conservatory – A Camellia House at Wollaton Hall the other day, here is another one at Culzean Castle, a...
Posted on 08 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
Towards the end of his life Sir Joseph Paxton was in much demand for as a garden designer and builder of conservatories and orangeries. By this time...
Posted on 07 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
There are a number of Camellia Houses around the country and the first I will write about is the one at Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire. The Camellia first arrived in Europe at...
Posted on 06 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
Sir Jeffry Wyatville was born on August 3, 1766. Both his father, Joseph and his uncle’s James and Samuel, were architects. At the ages of twelve and fourteen he...
Posted on 05 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
I often write about a conservatory having to complement the property it is attached too; using a Georgian style for a Georgian period or neo-Georgian building for example. And I have also...
Posted on 04 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
2008 marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of Andrea Palladio on 30th November 1508 and during the course of this year you will probably...
Posted on 03 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
Time for our monthly words of advice from Philip Miller, author of The Gardeners Kalendar that he published in 1769. Here's the top of the page that...
Posted on 02 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
Here are the answers to our New Year Conservatory Crossword. I hope you enjoyed having a go at it...
Posted on 01 Jan 2008 by Richmond Oak
If you are at a loose end before the New Year celebrations start, have a go at our Conservatory Crossword Puzzle...
Posted on 31 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
Over the past five months I’ve written nearly 150 news stories about conservatories and orangeries and as the year draws to a close I thought I should review the most important of them. If you are planning a...
Posted on 30 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
We already have a comprehensive History of Glass and its influence on conservatory architecture on our website, but here is an update based on some further research...
Posted on 29 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
As we approach the end of the year, here are just a few of the conservatories we have designed and installed in the past 12-months. They include Sunrooms; Victorian Gothic and Contemporary Conservatories...
Posted on 28 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
I’uve just discovered an orangery that was part of the manor that stood at Wimbledon for many centuries. It was crown property until the reign of Henry VIII and for a...
Posted on 27 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
Belton House near Grantham in Lincolnshire was built for Sir John Brownlow between 1685 and 1688. It is built in the Carolean architectural style...
Posted on 26 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
Here are the answers to our Conservatory Christmas Quiz:
Posted on 25 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
If you’ve been reading this for the past few months you should find our Conservatory Christmas Quiz a breeze. Good luck and Merry Christmas to you all...
Posted on 24 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
I’m running out of Lord & Burnham conservatories and greenhouses to write about, so this item about the conservatory at Sonnenberg Gardens and...
Posted on 23 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
Garden lighting has increased in popularity in parallel with the development, availability and increasing illumination quality of solar-powered garden lighting and today they are a worthwhile investment...
Posted on 22 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
So here I am on the 21st December enjoying the shortest day of the year. As someone who prefers the long days of summer to the...
Posted on 21 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
The Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens are located in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, not far from the Carnegie Museums in Oakland...
Posted on 20 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
At this time of year many conservatories hold special events and one of these is the Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle. The Conservatory is located in what was first known as...
Posted on 19 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
In case you’re imagining that this is another story about me lazing in the conservatory drinking, you’re completely wrong. This is about how coffee has been harvested at the Eden Project in Cornwall to...
Posted on 18 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
Apparently global warming is allowing the Oak Processionary Moth Thaumetopoea processionea to survive in the UK. If you haven’t heard of it before, allow me to...
Posted on 17 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
In a previous story about The First English Orangery, I noted how Queen Elizabeth I had visited Sir Francis Carew in 1599 and probably seen and...
Posted on 16 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
The Orangery at Versailles is a well-known building and I will write about it at some length another day. But in the meantime, I’ve managed to find some information about the original orangery...
Posted on 15 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
How long will a timber conservatory survive? Well, a collection of 19 metal vessels from the late Roman period has recently gone on temporary display at the Museum of London that might...
Posted on 14 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
Last night the winner of the The People’s £50 Million Lottery Contest that I wrote about ten days ago was announced. Unfortunately, the project for the Sherwood Forest Trust...
Posted on 13 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
After a really cold and frosty night, you can appreciate the work that goes into ensuring that conservatory insulation has been well taken care of. Starting from the...
Posted on 12 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
Even as we approach the shortest day of the year, there’s still lot’s to enjoy in the conservatory in December. Today the sun shone brightly and the conservatory...
Posted on 11 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
The transformation of the Orangery to the Conservatory probably lasted 100 years and the names were interchangeable depending on how...
Posted on 10 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
Following on from yesterdays story about Joseph Paxtons design of the Victoria Regia Conservatory, today we have the story of the growing of the plant...
Posted on 09 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
Following on from yesterdays story about the race to grow the first Victoria Regia Water Lily in England, in The Gardener’s Chronicle 31st August 1850 Joseph Paxton describes how...
Posted on 08 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
Towards the end of the 1840’s great rivalry existed between gardeners to grow the first Victoria Regia or Victoria Amazonica in England.
Posted on 07 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
Concluding the story of the building of the Great Stove, or Conservatory at Chatsworth House...
Posted on 06 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
I have written some brief stories about the conservatory at Chatsworth House before and also about the life of Joseph Paxton its designer. But...
Posted on 05 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
Here is an interesting story about a conservatory built in 1824 at The Grange in Hampshire. It played a small part in WWII and is now the home of Grange Opera.
Posted on 03 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
This week will be a big one for oak conservation. On 3rd December ITV will begin showing a series of programmes to promote The People’s £50 Million Lottery Contest, in which Brian Blessed will be...
Posted on 02 Dec 2007 by Richmond Oak
The Gardeners Kalendar was written by Philip Miller and first published in 1769. As I have written before, it is as relevant today as it was then and contains much useful advice for today’s conservatory gardener...
Posted on 01 Dec 2007 by