CONSERVATORIES
BITCH-SLAP WINTER
WITH A KICK-ASS CONSERVATORY!
(Source: Creative Conservatories)
CONSERVATORIES, ORANGERIES, WINTER GARDENS, SUN ROOMS, ROOMS WITH 'LANTERNS' - WHATEVER....
A ROOM WHERE THE ELEMENTS WON'T INTERFERE WITH YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THE OUTDOORS
MATCHING ONE TO YOUR HOME
IS THE FIRST STEP
(Source: Ferguson & Shamamian)
Traditional - Fantasy
(Source: Marston & Langinger)
Neo-Gothic
(Source: Unknown)
Neo-Georgian
(Source: Living Gardens)
Beaux-arts, or Chateau
(Source: Hampton Conservatories)
Traditional
(Source: Andy Martin Assoc.)
Contemporary
(Source: BayBeeSmall Conservatories)
Cheap and Cheerful!
(Source: Marie Claire Maison)
Old-World Style
(Source: David Kleinberg)
Updated Traditional
(Source: Walter Smalling photography)
Italianate - Victorian
(Source: Hampton Conservatories)
Regency
HOW COULD YOU UTILIZE A CONSERVATORY?
CONTEMPORARY STYLES
The common perception of conservatories is they're Victorian confections with cutesy potting carts in the corner and wicker furniture...
THEY'VE COME A LONG WAY BABY...
(Source: AD)
This glass enclosure runs the entire length of the house - parallel to an outdoor terrace, allowing two things; feeling much closer to nature whilst remaining in the AC or heat, and the amount of light this brings into the house is phenomenal!
(Source: Marmara)
How fabulous is this???
This penthouse expanded it's space by pushing out beyond the structure with the glass enclosures creating an endless, light-filled room - brilliant!
(Source: Designrulz)
This modern renovation/addition connects the kitchen and family room with a sunny dining area. It makes "gettin' your happy on" easier in the morning!
(Source: AD)
These NYC socialites needed more space to entertain at home on a larger scale....so they covered their roof with a freekin' conservatory!
LOVE that! It only takes money...
(Source: Kathryn Scott)
This kitchen now has a zillion times more light with that glass pop-out which allows them an eating area too.
(Source: Houz)
Not a conservatory per se, but a kick ass glass room nonetheless, riiiight? OMG - to sit cantilevered over that water....dayum, I'm in!
(Source: Twisted Sifter)
This could be fun in certain settings...as pool house, studio, etc.
Be careful though - kinda could look like a Mazda showroom too...
TRANSITIONAL & TRADITIONAL
(Source: The North Group)
Pretty, right? This is a wonderful space for many reasons; light and bright regardless of what time-of-year it is.
Imagine cooking in here on a cold winter day with snow outside...
Imagine cooking in here on a cold winter day with snow outside...
This is one of my clients who'd seen another conservatory I'd done and wanted to integrate one into her new home. This is only a partial conservatory as it's essentially a huge-ass "bay window."
Below is the exterior view, on the right of the photo you can see how well it blends into the Shingle-style architecture.
Below is the exterior view, on the right of the photo you can see how well it blends into the Shingle-style architecture.
(Source: Marston & Langinger; Design by Joseph Paul Davis)
(Source: Ferguson & Shamamian)
This is a brilliant super-sized conservatory!
The large Palladian-style windows hydraulically lower into the floor out-of-sight so the room feels more like a pergola.
(The exterior is shown in the 2nd and 3rd photos in this missive)
(Source: Lorenzo Castillo, Spain)
An interior space, once a courtyard is now a glazed conservatory, only the ceiling is glass which creates another sun-filled room.
(Source: Solar Innovations)
A typical conservatory addition.
Handsome and unusually efficient as it's easily added to your house. It arrives on a truck and is assembled on-site in a week and voila! - a new room!
Live in a typical narrow, urban townhouse?
These awkward, irregular spaces accommodate a conservatory quite well. An added bonus is they allow light into the usually dark interior rooms while providing another badly needed room!
(Source: Curbed)
This totally boring room is salvaged because of the adjacent conservatory which draws your eyes away from the pedestrian decor... More space, more light and more view.
(Source: David Kleinberg)
The quintessential conservatory!
Everything you want is in this room 365 days a year! The glass roof is covered with operable woven-wood blinds to abate the glare and heat in summer.
(Source: Elle Decor)
This cozy cottage in Cornwall has an old-fashioned conservatory which is the perfect spot for the gray, English weather.
(Source: Oak Leaf Conservatories)
This Regency style home has a whole new room now, more casual and accessible to the garden. Perfect for long winter evenings.
This one is so large it could be used for large parties.
LANTERNS
Instead of an entirely glass room, add a 'Lantern' which is essentially a popped-up skylight with a Clerestory.
(Source: Hampton Conservatories)
This is a good visual of a lantern; it can be in a dining room, kitchen or hallway, anywhere you want more light without using a tacky skylight.
(Source: Tanglewood Conservatories)
From the outside it can be an amazing visual addition or architectural detail too!
(Source: Susan Maier Assoc.)
This large orangery (uh-rawn-zher-eee) is made of basic standard construction with French doors with transom's above. The tray ceiling is topped by a lantern, which also can be opened with remote switches to allow the warm air to escape.
(The decor could use a little energy!)
(Source: Tanglewood)
The inside of a round lantern.
(Source: South Shore Blog)
The lantern in this barrel vaulted ceiling gives this room more height, architectural interest, light and ventilating capability.
(Source: Ferguson & Shamamian)
Who noticed there's NO freekin' windows in here? No one!
This pee-in-your-pants lantern-with-tray-ceiling combo is the bomb!
True genius! This room which is surrounded by other rooms has no outside walls, so it becomes a lounge and TV room.
CONSERVATORIES AS "LINKS"
Those goofy spaces that transition you between parts of a house - sometimes long boring hallways, sometimes gauntlets of rooms.
(Source: Tanglewood Conservatories)
This magnificent structure serves a dual purpose -
it's the link between the guest house and main house and also houses an indoor pool!
La-T-freekin-da, right???
(Source: Mt. Kisko)
This elegant orangerie connects the garage and pool house to the main house. Notice, it's wide enough to handle trees and plants and still have an unobstructed passage.
(Source: CreativeConservatories.com)
This glass link connects a new, larger addition to the original smaller house (on left). The two-storey link allows light into both buildings from all sides. A normal addition/link - even with skylights wouldn't allow nearly as much light
(would a little landscaping kill ya?).
(Source: Phoenix Home & Garden)
Here is another way to bring light into the interior of a home: The arched glass ceiling over the dining area not only creates a conservatory look but it makes the house much brighter inside.
(NOT my taste in chandeliers or furniture for such a wonderful room....should be stronger, more substantial, not schmancy, frail looking stuff).
POOL HOUSES AND FREESTANDING CONSERVATORIES
No, they don't need to be attached.
I know, right? Just got all wet didn't ya?
(Designer Joseph Paul Davis, Landscape Architect Richard Arentz)
This is one of my clients who had an amazing garden and no real way to enjoy it other than during the summer. We placed this outbuilding 50 feet from his house, now it's a very private respite, a cozy, romantic hideaway.
In winter they enjoy huge roaring fires, and in summer it's a pool house.
(In the basement of the conservatory is the pool equipment and storage for the pool furniture).
(Source: Forest Residential Conservatories)
This frilly neo-Georgian "wedding cake" would be great anywhere, as long as the architecture of the main residence is compatible. It would look like merde on the grounds of a modern house. This one is used as pool house and guest quarters.
ORANGERIES, SUN ROOMS AND WINTER GARDENS
A less expensive way...
This Beaux-arts home has a glass hemicycle with steel mullioned windows and grill-work; it's decorated with contemporary furnishings which makes it less stiff and more user friendly.
This casual sun-porch has folding glass doors which can make the room go from an open porch to a "winter garden" when the temperatures drop.
(Source: Melinda Ritz)
This old-fashioned sun room has been maintained as a conservatory - not a family room - which is kind of nice as we seem to have too many "living rooms" in homes these days.
(library's, living rooms, media rooms, family rooms, etc. all in one house!)
(Source: Ernest de la Torre)
This bitch is soooo hipster!
Love the old, traditional 'envelope' with the less-is-more look using eclectic pieces. This is good design!
(Source: David Kleinberg)
For the over 65 crowd...
Yes, its stunning, and it's what we think of when we think of conservatories - but at grandma's house...
BAD CONSERVATORIES
Oh yes, I'm going there too!
REALLY?
A shotgun house with vinyl siding, plastic shutters and an O.T.T. High-Victorian conservatory...
I'm diggin' those "leaded glass" inserts too!
Where does the additional stone material come from?
(This is what we real estate people call regression or over-improvement)
This feels like a spaceship that landed in a field!
What's all that LED crap on the ceiling, a celestial map so they can find their way back to Kolob?
This PVC conservatory looks like junk - God forbid a fire - your room would melt.
How about a little pitch to the roof line guys - or would that put you over budget?
This looks like it's been left behind from one of those "Home and Garden Shows" which travel around from convention center to convention center...
The structural members are wayyy too thin; the sliders are heinous; what's up with that motor-home-like pop-out where the table is???
A wooden floor? Uhhh, no way Jose, that crap will be dried up and bleached out in a few months.
(Too bad IKEA did the staging too!)
You can do it, I'm here to help!