An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where
orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
and other
fruit trees
A fruit tree is a tree which bears fruit that is consumed or used by animals and humans — all trees that are flowering plants produce fruit, which are the ripened ovaries of flowers containing one or more seeds. In horticultural usage, t ...
were protected during the winter, as a very large form of
greenhouse or
conservatory.
The orangery provided a luxurious extension of the normal range and season of woody plants, extending the protection which had long been afforded by the warmth offered from a masonry
fruit wall. During the 17th century, fruits like
orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
, pomegranate, and bananas arrived in huge quantities to European ports. Since these plants were not adapted to the harsh European winters, orangeries were invented to protect and sustain them. The high cost of glass made orangeries a
status symbol showing wealth and luxury. Gradually, due to technological advancements, orangeries became more of a classic architectural structure that enhanced the beauty of an estate garden, rather than a room used for wintering plants.
The orangery originated from the
Renaissance gardens of Italy, when glass-making technology enabled sufficient expanses of clear glass to be produced. In the north, the Dutch led the way in developing expanses of window glass in orangeries, although the engravings illustrating Dutch manuals showed solid roofs, whether beamed or vaulted, and in providing stove heat rather than open fires. This soon created a situation where orangeries became symbols of status among the wealthy. The glazed roof, which afforded sunlight to plants that were not dormant, was a development of the early 19th century. The orangery at
Dyrham Park
Dyrham Park () is a baroque English country house in an ancient deer park near the village of Dyrham in South Gloucestershire, England. The house, attached orangery, stable block, and accompanying parish church are Grade I listed buildings, w ...
, Gloucestershire, which had been provided with a slate roof as originally built about 1702, was given a glazed one about a hundred years later, after
Humphrey Repton
Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...
remarked that it was dark; although it was built to shelter oranges, it has always simply been called the "greenhouse" in modern times.
The 1617 ''Orangerie'' (now
Musée de l'Orangerie
The Musée de l'Orangerie ( en, Orangery Museum) is an art gallery of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings located in the west corner of the Tuileries Garden next to the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The museum is most famous as the ...
) at the
Palace of the Louvre inspired imitations that culminated in Europe's largest orangery, the
Versailles Orangerie
The Versailles Orangerie (french: L'orangerie du château de Versailles) was built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart between 1684 and 1686, before work on the Château de Versailles had even begun. The Orangerie, which replaced Louis Le Vau's earlier des ...
. Designed by
Jules Hardouin-Mansart for Louis XIV's 3,000 orange trees at
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...
, its dimensions of were not eclipsed until the development of the modern greenhouse in the 1840s, and were quickly overshadowed by the glass architecture of
Joseph Paxton, the designer of the 1851
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
. His "great conservatory" at
Chatsworth House was an orangery and glass house of monumental proportions.
The orangery, however, was not just a greenhouse but a symbol of prestige and wealth and a
garden feature
Garden features are physical elements, both natural and manmade, used in garden design.
* Artificial waterfall
* Avenue
*Aviary
*Bog garden
*Borrowed scenery
*Bosquet
* Broderie
* Belvedere
* Chashitsu (tea house)
* Chōzubachi (basin)
* Deck
*D ...
, in the same way as a
summerhouse,
folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings.
Eighteenth-cent ...
, or "Grecian temple". Owners would conduct their guests there on tours of the garden to admire not only the fruits within but also the architecture outside. Often the orangery would contain fountains, grottos, and an area in which to entertain in inclement weather.
Earliest examples
As early as 1545, an orangery was built in
Padua, Italy
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
. The first orangeries were practical and not as ornamental as they later became. Most had no heating other than open fires.
In England,
John Parkinson introduced the orangery to the readers of his ''Paradisus in Sole'' (1628), under the heading "Oranges". The trees might be planted against a brick wall and enclosed in winter with a plank shed covered with "cerecloth", a waxed precursor of
tarpaulin
A tarpaulin ( , ) or tarp is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with polyurethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. Tarpaulins often have reinforce ...
, which must have been thought handsomer than the alternative:
For that purpose, some keepe them in great square boxes, and lift them to and fro by iron hooks on the sides, or cause them to be rowled by trundels, or small wheeles under them, to place them in a house or close gallery.
The building of orangeries became most widely fashionable after the end of the
Eighty Years' War in 1648. The countries that started this trend were France, Germany, and the Netherlands, these countries being the ones that saw merchants begin importing large numbers of orange trees, banana plants, and pomegranates to cultivate for their beauty and scent.
Construction materials
Orangeries were generally built facing south to take advantage of the maximum possible light, and were constructed using brick or stone bases, brick or stone pillars, and a
corbel gutter. They also featured large, tall windows to maximise available sunlight in the afternoons, with the north facing walls built without windows in a very heavy solid brick, or occasionally with much smaller windows to be able to keep the rooms warm. Insulation at these times was one of the biggest concerns for the building of these orangeries, straw became the main material used, and many had wooden shutters fitted to keep in the warmth. An early example of the type of construction can be seen at
Kensington Palace, which also featured underfloor heating.
Contemporary domestic orangeries are also typically built using stone, brick, and hardwood, but developments in glass, other materials, and insulation technologies have produced viable alternatives to traditional construction. The main difference with a conservatory is in the construction of its roof – a conservatory will have more than 75 per cent of its roof glazed, while an orangery will have less than 75 per cent glazed. Domestic orangeries also typically feature a
roof lantern. Improved design and insulation has also led to an increasing number of orangeries that are not built facing south, instead using light maximising techniques to make the most of available natural sunlight.
Early orangeries
The first examples were basic constructions and could be removed during summer. Notably not only noblemen but also wealthy merchants, e.g., those of
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, used to cultivate citrus plants in orangeries.
Some orangeries were built using the garden wall as the main wall of the new orangery, but as orangeries became more and more popular they started to become more and more influenced by
garden designer
A garden designer is someone who designs the plan and features of gardens, either as an amateur or professional. The compositional elements of garden design and landscape design are: terrain, water, planting, constructed elements and buildings, ...
s and architects, which led to the connection between the house and architectural orangery design. This became further influenced by the increased demand for beautiful exotic plants in the garden, which could be grown and looked after in the orangeries.
This created the increased demand in
garden design
Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expertise. ...
for the wealthy to have their own exotic private gardens, further fuelling the status of the orangery becoming even more the symbol of the elite.
[ This in turn created the need for orangeries to be constructed using even better techniques such as underfloor heating and the ability to have opening windows in the roofs for ventilation. Creating ]microclimate
A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...
s for the propagation of more and more exotic plants for the private gardens that were becoming creations of beauty all around Europe.
Continental Europe
Austria
* Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
Africa
* Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco
*Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...
, Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
* Schönbrunn, Vienna
France
* Versailles Orangerie
The Versailles Orangerie (french: L'orangerie du château de Versailles) was built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart between 1684 and 1686, before work on the Château de Versailles had even begun. The Orangerie, which replaced Louis Le Vau's earlier des ...
, in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles
* Strasbourg, park of the Orangerie
* Tuileries
The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from ...
: Orangerie
An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very lar ...
in the Tuileries Gardens, Paris
Belgium
* Laeken, Orangerie of the Royal Castle of Laeken (ca. 1820)
Germany
* Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
, Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
Africa
* Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco
*Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...
Orangerie
* Düsseldorf-Benrath
Benrath () is a quarter of Düsseldorf in the south of the city, part of Borough 9. It has been a part of Düsseldorf since 1929. Benrath has an area of , and 17,178 inhabitants (2020).
History
The name Benrath came from the "Knights of Benrode ...
, Orangerie
* Fulda, Orangerie
* Gera
Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...
, Orangery and "Küchengarten"
* Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, a part of the Herrenhausen Gardens
The Herrenhausen Gardens (german: Herrenhäuser Gärten, ) of Herrenhausen Palace, located in Herrenhausen, an urban district of Lower Saxony's capital of Hanover are made up of the Great Garden (), the Berggarten, the Georgengarten and th ...
* Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Ba ...
, Orangerie in Harderstraße 10
* Kassel, Orangerie
An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very lar ...
* Oldenburg, Cactus House
* Philippsthal
Philippsthal (Werra) is a market community in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in eastern Hesse, Germany, right at the boundary with Thuringia.
Geography
Location
Philippsthal lies between the outliers of the Rhön and the Thuringian Forest (ranges) ...
, Orangerie
* Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...
, Orangery Palace
The Orangery Palace (german: Orangerieschloss) is a palace located in the Sanssouci Park of Potsdam, Germany. It is also known as the New Orangery on the Klausberg, or just the Orangery. It was built on behest of the "Romantic on the Throne", Ki ...
* Schwerin
Schwerin (; Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the capital and second-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as of the region of Mecklenburg, after Rostock. It ...
, Schwerin Castle
Schwerin Castle (also known as ''Schwerin Palace'', german: Schweriner Schloss, ), is a schloss located in the city of Schwerin, the capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state, Germany. It is situated on an island in the city's main lake, Lake Sch ...
, Orangerie
* Bronnbach abbey in Wertheim am Main
Wertheim ( East Franconian: ''Wärde'') is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of around 23,400. It is located on the confluence of the rivers Tauber and Main. Wertheim is best known for its l ...
Italy
* Palace of Venaria
The Palace of Venaria (Italian: Reggia di Venaria Reale) is a former royal residence and gardens located in Venaria Reale, near Turin in the Piedmont region in northern Italy. It is one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, included in ...
, Citroneria (en: ''Orangery,'' built by Filippo Juvarra
Filippo is an Italian language, Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English language, English name Philip (name), Philip, from the Greek language, Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "amante dei cavalli".''Behind the Name''"Given Name ...
)
Poland
* Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, Stara Pomarańczarnia (en: ''Old Orangery''; built 1786–1788) and Nowa Pomarańczarnia (en: ''New Orangery''; built 1860) at the Royal Łazienki Park
Łazienki Park or Royal Baths Park ( pl, Park Łazienkowski, Łazienki Królewskie) is the largest park in Warsaw, Poland, occupying 76 hectares of the city center.
The park-and-palace complex lies in Warsaw's central district ('' Śródmieście ...
Russia
* Peterhof, Bolshaya Kamennya Oranzhereya
* Tsarskoe Selo
Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the c ...
, Bolshaya Oranzhereya (1762, 1820)
* Kuskovo
Kuskovo (russian: Куско́во) was the summer country house and estate of the Sheremetev family. Built in the mid-18th century, it was originally situated several miles to the east of Moscow but now is part of the East District of the ...
, Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
, Oranzhereya (''illustration, right'')
Sweden
* Linneanum, Botaniska trädgården (Uppsala) – The Orangery, Botanical Garden, Uppsala University
Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation.
The university rose to significance during ...
1787
* Linnéträdgården, Uppsala 1655
* Finspång Castle Orangerie 1832
* Nynäs Slott, Manorial Estate (Castle) and Orangery, Nynäs
* Bergianska trädgården
The Bergianska trädgården, the Bergian Garden or Hortus Bergianus, is a botanical garden located in the Frescati area on the outskirts of Stockholm, close to the Swedish Museum of Natural History and the main campus of Stockholm University. The ...
, Stockholm, gamla orangeriet, now used as a restaurant
Great Britain and Ireland
The orangery built adjacent to Kensington Palace, believed to be designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...
, was constructed between 1704 and 1705.
The orangery at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...
, was designed in 1761 by Sir William Chambers and at one time was the largest glasshouse in England.
The orangery at Margam Park, Wales, was built between 1787 and 1793 to house a large collection of orange, lemon, and citron trees inherited by Thomas Mansel Talbot. The original house has been razed, but the surviving orangery, at , is the longest one in Wales.
An orangery dating from about 1700 is at Kenwood House
Kenwood House (also known as the Iveagh Bequest) is a former stately home in Hampstead, London, on the northern boundary of Hampstead Heath. The house was originally constructed in the 17th century and served as a residence for the Earls of Mans ...
in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, and a slightly earlier one at Montacute. Other orangeries in the hands of the National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
include:
*Ham House
Ham House is a 17th-century house set in formal gardens on the bank of the River Thames in Ham, south of Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The original house was completed in 1610 by Thomas Vavasour, an Elizabethan cou ...
, Richmond, Surrey, in brick, a somewhat less fancy building than others, placed at the end of the walled kitchen garden
The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French ) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for grow ...
.
*Hanbury Hall
Hanbury Hall is a large 18th-century stately home standing in parkland at Hanbury, Worcestershire. The main range has two storeys and is built of red brick in the Queen Anne style. It is a Grade I listed building, and the associated Orangery a ...
, Worcestershire
*Croome Court
Croome Court is a mid-18th-century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by extensive landscaped parkland at Croome D'Abitot, near Upton-upon-Severn in south Worcestershire, England. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown for ...
, called the "Temple Greenhouse"; an elaborate Roman temple
Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of ...
facade designed by Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...
in 1761.
*Ickworth House
Ickworth House is a country house at Ickworth, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. It is a neoclassical building set in parkland. The house was the residence of the Marquess of Bristol before being sold to the National Trust in 1998.
H ...
, Suffolk, where it forms part of the garden front of the dwelling wings
*Powis Castle
Powis Castle ( cy, Castell Powys) is a British medieval castle, fortress and grand country house near Welshpool, in Powys. The seat of the Herbert family, Earls of Powis, the castle is known for its formal gardens and for its interiors, the fo ...
, Montgomeryshire, a central feature on the late-18th-century terraces
*Saltram House
Saltram House is a grade I listed George II era mansion house located in the parish of Plympton, near Plymouth in Devon, England. It was deemed by the architectural critic Pevsner to be "the most impressive country house in Devon". The ...
, Devon, probably to a Robert Adam
Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...
design
*Seaton Delaval Hall
Seaton Delaval Hall is a Grade I listed country house in Northumberland, England, near the coast just north of Newcastle upon Tyne. Located between Seaton Sluice and Seaton Delaval, it was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1718 for Admiral Geo ...
, Northumberland
*Blickling
Blickling is a village and civil parish in the Broadland district of Norfolk, England, about north-west of Aylsham. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 136 and covers , falling to 113 at the 2011 Census. Since the 17th century t ...
, Norfolk
*Gibside
Gibside is an estate in the Derwent Valley in North East England. It is between Rowlands Gill, in Tyne and Wear, and Burnopfield, in County Durham, and a few miles from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Gibside was previously owned by the Bowes-Lyon fam ...
, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, now a ruined shell
In 1970, Victor Montagu constructed an orangery in his formal Italianate gardens at Mapperton, Dorset.
A mid-19th-century orangery at Norton Hall
Norton Hall is an English country house situated on Norton Church Road in the suburb of Norton in Sheffield, England. For most of its history it has been a private residence, in its latter history it has been used as a NHS hospital, a private h ...
in Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
, England, has been converted to apartments.[British Listed Buildings.](_blank)
Gives details of orangery at Norton Hall.
In Ireland, orangeries were built at Killruddery House and Loughcrew House.
File:Kew Gardens 004.JPG, The Orangery at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...
, now used as a restaurant.
File:Temple Greenhouse (geograph 2214432).jpg, The "Temple Greenhouse" of Croome Court
Croome Court is a mid-18th-century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by extensive landscaped parkland at Croome D'Abitot, near Upton-upon-Severn in south Worcestershire, England. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown for ...
, 1761, now a cafe
File:Vegetable garden at Ham House Estate - geograph.org.uk - 4530.jpg, Ham House
Ham House is a 17th-century house set in formal gardens on the bank of the River Thames in Ham, south of Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The original house was completed in 1610 by Thomas Vavasour, an Elizabethan cou ...
, kitchen garden with the orangery at the end (inevitably, now a cafe)
File:Kensington Palace Orangery.jpg, Kensington Palace Orangery.
File:Hanbury Hall Orangery and Mushroom House 2016.jpg, The orangery and mushroom house at Hanbury Hall
Hanbury Hall is a large 18th-century stately home standing in parkland at Hanbury, Worcestershire. The main range has two storeys and is built of red brick in the Queen Anne style. It is a Grade I listed building, and the associated Orangery a ...
File:Orangery and maze Longleat.jpg, Orangery and maze at Longleat
Longleat is an English stately home and the seat of the Marquess of Bath, Marquesses of Bath. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan prodigy house, it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of War ...
File:Orangery garden, Hampton Court.JPG, Hampton Court
Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...
orangery
File:Orangery, Belton House - geograph.org.uk - 1498894.jpg, Orangery, Belton House
United States
18th century
In the United States, the earliest partially intact surviving orangery is at the Tayloe house, Mount Airy, Virginia, but today is an overgrown ruin, consisting only of one major wall and portions of the others' foundations. A ruined orangery can also be seen in the gardens of Eyre Hall
Eyre Hall is a plantation house located in Northampton, Virginia, close to Cheriton, and owned by the Eyre family since 1668. The property is one of the state's best preserved colonial homes with gardens among the oldest in the United States. ...
in Northampton County, Virginia
Northampton County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,282. Its county seat is Eastville. Northampton and Accomack Counties are a part of the larger Eastern Shore of Virginia.
The ...
.
The oldest-known extant orangery in America can be seen at the Wye Plantation
The Wye River plantation, or ''Wye Hall'' was the Eastern Shore of Maryland home of William Paca, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, constructed in 1765, and extensively renovated in 1790 by John Paca, with Joseph Clark as architect, ...
, near Tunis Mills (Easton), Maryland. This orangery sits behind the main house and consists of a large open room with two smaller wings added at some point after the initial construction. The south-facing wall consists of large triple-hung windows. A second story was traditionally part of the style of orangeries at the time of its construction in the middle to late 18th century as a way of further insulating the main section where the plants were kept. According to the current resident, Ms. Tilghman (a descendant of the Lloyd family), it served as a billiards room for the family. This plantation is also notable as having been the home of Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...
as a young slave boy.
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
designed and constructed an orangery for his home at Mount Vernon, Virginia
Mount Vernon is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 12,416 at the 2010 census. Primarily due to its historical significance and natural recreation and beaut ...
. It was designed in the Georgian Style
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Geor ...
of architecture and stands just north of the mansion facing the upper garden. Completed in 1787, it is one of the largest buildings on the Mount Vernon estate. Washington grew lemon and orange trees and sago palms there. Considered an ambitious structure by his contemporaries, the main room featured a vaulted ceiling
In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while rin ...
for air circulation, and incorporated radiant heating
Radiant heating and cooling is a category of HVAC technologies that exchange heat by both convection and radiation with the environments they are designed to heat or cool. There are many subcategories of radiant heating and cooling, including: ...
from a series of flues under the floor. The original greenhouse burned in 1835, but was rebuilt on the same site in 1951 using original plans.
19th century
The Dumbarton Oaks
Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and garden of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife, ...
estate in Washington, D.C. includes an orangery built in 1810 that is now used to house gardenias, oleander, and citrus plants during the winter.
Another orangery stands at Hampton National Historic Site
Hampton National Historic Site, in the Hampton area north of Towson, Baltimore County, Maryland, USA, preserves a remnant of a vast 18th-century estate, including a Georgian manor house, gardens, grounds, and the original stone slave quarters. ...
near Towson, Maryland
Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincor ...
. Originally built in 1820, it was part of one of the most extensive collections of citrus trees in the U.S. by the mid-19th century. The current structure is a reconstruction built in the 1970s to replace the original, which burned in 1926.
The orangery at the Battersea Historic Site in Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Econ ...
is currently under restoration. Originally built between 1823 and 1841, it was converted into a garage in a later period.
In the late 19th century, Florence Vanderbilt and husband Hamilton Twombly built an ''orangerie'' on their estate, Florham
Florham is a former Vanderbilt estate that is located in Madison and Florham Park, New Jersey. It was built during the 1890s for Hamilton McKown Twombly and his wife, Florence Adele Vanderbilt, a member of the Vanderbilt family. Now part of th ...
, designed by architects McKim, Mead & White. It is now on the Florham Campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...
.
20th century
An 18th-century style orangery was built in the 1980s at the Tower Hill Botanic Garden
New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill is a 171-acre botanic garden and arboretum located in Boylston, Massachusetts, approximately north of central Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester in Worcester County, Massachusetts. The Garden features 18 ...
in Boylston, Massachusetts.Tower Hill Botanic Garden: The Orangerie
Worcester County Horticultural Society.
See also
*
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.
The word derives, via Italian, fro ...
*
Daylighting
References
Bibliography
* Woods, Mary (1996). ''Glass Houses: A History of Greenhouses, Orangeries and Conservatories''.
External links
{{Authority control
Landscape design history
Landscape garden features
Types of garden