CONSERVATORIES & SOLARIUMS:
THE LIGHT WITHIN -
 The Hunt
By Stacia Friedman
You build a home to have a place to live. You add a conservatory to have a place to dream.
When wealthy European Victorians traveled the world, they brought back living souvenirs: Exotic flowering
plants, tall palms, fragrant orange trees. To protect their tropical plants from harsh winters in London
and Paris, they commissioned elegant conservatories, solariums, and orangeries.
Soon, affluent Americans jumped on the trend, erecting public solariums from Golden Gate
Park to Philadelphia's Horticultural Hall for the Bicentennial. For all of his salty, down-home wit, Mark
Twain had his own private solarium, as did Doris Duke. And the vintage board game Clue famously incorporates
a mysterious conservatory as a prime site for murder.
Originally constructed as free-standing structures with tall, palladian windows, over the
years conservatories evolved into glass palaces and now serve as decorative additions that lend beauty and
warmth to any home. Whether you use yours as a dining area, reading room, music room, or a place to grow
rare orchids, a conservatory offers a unique quality of light and enchantment.
Chances are you have a vision in your head of the perfect conservatory for your home. Perhaps
it is an idea you saw in a magazine or during a trip abroad. Whatever your concept, it is important to choose
a qualified architect who will work with you to determine the best possible placement, design, and materials
to complement your home. "We start by going to our clients' home and finding out why they want a conservatory
in the first place," says architect Alan Stein who, along with his wife Nancy Virts, is co-founder of
Tanglewood Conservatories in Denton, Md. "We try to understand what our clients like about a particular design
and try to gain insight into what is important to them."
Viewing the design options on Tanglewood Conservatories' Web site is like opening a two-pound
box of Godiva chocolates. The choices are overwhelming. A "Lakeside Classic Victorian"
conservatory appears to
float between water and sky, with a glass cupola that washes the 1,100-square-foot room with sunlight. The high
ceiling hovers over palm trees and Victorian wicker furniture, and encourages reading by natural light even on
cloudy days. The biggest room in the house, the conservatory provides a natural setting for entertaining. Across
the lake, facing the conservatory, a matching octagonal gazebo draws the eye to a magical view of drifting swans
and lush gardens. "The owners were concerned that with such large amounts of glass, the conservatory would be
difficult to heat and cool. The solution was to make the lower portion of the roof out of solid panels instead
of glass," explains Stein.
Their "Classic Victorian" conservatory was a conversion of a large estate's old carriage house.
Designed to function as a sitting room, the 19×15-foot space comfortably holds a sofa, two wing chairs, and an
old-fashioned card table.
"The owners wanted something that looked like it came with the house," says Stein. "The columns
and cornice work were exact replicas of the original construction." The six-sided glass conservatory is linked
to the main house by a glass walkway which floods the adjacent kitchen with light. A brick base wall visually
connects the new custom conservatory with the main structure.
Within its own gated garden, a "Brick and Stone" conservatory, set away from the main house,
provides a romantic setting for a hidden spa, wet bar, and fireplace. "The clients wanted a retreat that could
be used as a magical getaway," says Stein, who designed a vaulted copper roof, gabled entryway, and curvilinear
entry steps.
"I fell in love with conservatories 15 years ago when I received my first commission to build
one," he says. "I was appalled by the poor quality that was being imported so I decided to build them myself."
Tanglewood Conservatories does not use any pre-fab design kits. "We not only design, but we build, getting
deeply into detail, using cast-bronze hardware, stained glass, Honduras mahogany, and hand-carved capitals."
After the conservatory is custom built in Stein's shop, it is taken apart and rebuilt on site. The entire
process takes up to one year.
"Creating a beautiful structure is primary," says Stein, "but we also try to make it as
energy-efficient as possible, taking into account shading, orientation, using high performance glass and
weather stripping."
"Sensitivity to proportion and scale is what an architect brings," says Peter Zimmerman,
head architect of a full-service residential design firm located in Berwyn, Pa. Originally from the Main
Line, Zimmerman returned from his graduate studies in architecture at Harvard to do what he loved—restore
historic properties and design new homes that integrate historic elements. A Chester Springs resident, Zimmerman
says, "I grew up surrounded by old stone farmhouses and I understand the culture and history of the area. In
designing a conservatory, you aim for authenticity versus faux architecture."
When designing conservatories, Zimmerman strives for a seamless allusion between the original
structure and the new addition. A "Bryn Mawr" conservatory in a Georgian stone mansion opens the entire side
of the house to a light-filled corridor with marble floors, hanging candelabra, and exotic orchids, opening
to a garden patio. The design for his "Villanova" conservatory includes lattice-work ceiling trim, French
doors and a beamed arch ceiling. In "Paoli," Zimmerman wanted to create the look of an enclosed porch. He
achieved this by designing a second floor balcony on the conservatory's roof and repeating design elements
that appear on the main house, such as white pillars and a red brick base.
Architect John Toates, AIA, a principal with Peter Zimmerman Architects, says, "It is because
of the long tradition of craftsmanship in southeastern Pennsylvania that our firm is fortunate enough to have
retained access to a limited number of skilled craftspeople who are able to execute our designs."
Peter Zimmerman Architects
828 Old Lancaster Road
Berwyn, PA 19312
610.647.6970
www.PZArchitects.com
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