Conservatories, Orangeries, and Poolhouses

 

 

This beautiful image of a poolhouse was recently featured on a couple of different blogs.  Isn't it just gorgeous?  The building is technically a conservatory, which is  a structure made of glass and wood or metal.  Conservatories were first popular with the English at the start of the 19th century.  Although originally used for greenhouses, as their popularity grew, so did their functions.  Social settings for teas heralded the change from the purely horticulture to the residential.  Today, conservatories serve as extra sunrooms for the upperclass, as the price for one of these structures can cost upwards of $50,000.   Still more popular overseas, America is slowly warming up to these wonderfully versatile glass structures.

Another structure that is very similar to the conservatory is the orangery.  First used to grow citrus fruits, the orangery is now virtually identical to the conservatory except for one feature:  whereas the conservatory is made out of  metal or wood and glass, the orangery is made out of brick and glass.   In America, most companies don't distinguish between an orangery and a conservatory, rather they use the two terms interchangeably.

These glass structures can be contemporary in design, but most are either Victorian or Edwardian.  There are some that are Georgian, but since that style predates the beginnings of the conservatory, the Georgian styled structures are purely interpretive.  Because the structure is mainly glass, where it is placed on the property is important depending upon the climate.  For instance, a home located where there is a hot southern sun would place the conservatory facing north.  Whereas in a cool, northern locale, it would be positioned facing either west or south.   This proper placement is essential for comfort while inside the structure.  Today, mostly, the conservatories are used as either casual dining rooms or family rooms.   And, since there is a certain romance attached to these structures, they make perfect rooms to use at night with candlelight.  

 

A typical conservatory in the English countryside.  Attached to the main house, this conservatory is used for casual dining.

A beautiful Victorian styled conservatory.

This conservatory has a distinctive lantern, or skylight.

The inside of the above conservatory:  a combination living and dining room.

Conservatories are beautiful when lit at night by candlelight.

The interior of the candle lit conservatory above.

This structure is technically an orangery, built with brick and glass.

The orangery's interior.  There's no citrus fruit growing in here!   I love the black slate floor and the two lanterns hanging from the skylight.

A romantic, country conservatory.

This beautiful conservatory adjoins a large terrace made of the same stone as the house.

The above conservatory's interior.  Dressier than most, it is still bright and cheery.

This conservatory is used for a casual eating area.  The charming hanging shelf with it's white plates almost upstages the glass structure.

 

This conservatory with it's brick floors is interior designer's Bunny Williams dining room in the country.  Made famous in her book "An Affair with a House" the arched french doors were bought by Ms. Williams  and wee used as the foundation of this garden room.

A second story Georgian styled addition to a city town house.

A fabulous roof with an even more fabulous interior.  I love the decor here!

A fireplace keeps this garden styled conservatory warm in the winter months. 

A beautiful orangery that blends in with the main house.

This conservatory opens to the patio which increases the living space.

The casual interior of the conservatory above.

This glorious garden structure appears to be floating in the water.

 

A conservatory found in the country - beautiful facade.

This townhouse shows a typical placement for an inner city structure:  attached to the back.

 

The elegant interior of the city townhouse above.

 

This structure, though attached to the main house, almost appears freestanding.

In order to combat harsh sunrays, many conservatories come equipped with ceiling shades, such as these.

A charming, countryside orangery.

Beautiful tin roof on this conservatory gives it it's folly-like appearance.

If space or budget is a concern, you can always add just a lantern to a room's ceiling.  A fancy skylight, the lanterns are wonderful for dark, interior rooms.  

    

These clients provided the antique doors for their orangery.

 

This diminutive orangery acts a bridge between the main house and an addition.

 

The garden room interior of a structure.

  

A fancy pool house with a conservatory facade.

An Anglo-Indian inspired interior, ready for the hot sun with it's drawn ceiling shades.

Many  conservatories are furnished with large, elaborate lighting fixtures, such as this one.

A large crystal chandalier for this conservatory.

The stone on this orangery matches the main house, making it seem less of an addition.

Again, matching stone lends an air of permanence to this structure.  At dusk, this looks particularly inviting.

                                                                                                                                                                                           

Casual, garden room interior.  The stone fireplace becomes the focal point.

     

Dining room in the country.

       

 

Absolutely beautiful!!!

Perhaps the most well known conservatory played an integral part in one of the most famous movies ever:  The Sound of Music.  Remember the scene where the oldest daughter is dancing with her boyfriend?  And later, Maria and the Captain share a dance too.  The small, round conservatory is still standing and is a huge visitor's stop in Austria.

 

The actual Sound of Music conservatory.  On a college tour of Europe, I actually saw this too!

Tag, I'm It!

Megan from Beach Bungalow 8 and 1st Dibs fame and Neutral Dwelling both recently tagged moi, so here goes:

 

WHAT WERE YOU DOING TEN YEARS AGO:

Oh, sure, like I can remember!  Let me really think....my daughter was 7 years old back then, so I was carpooling a lot, I know that for sure.  I hadn't been working since I had Elisabeth - I was just enjoying being a mother and a wife.  I did rejoin the work force around this time period, though.  One morning Ben called me and said:   "I need you to go back to work, we could use the extra money."   His business was slow around then.    By the time he came home that evening, I had a new job working for an insurance agency (O.K. - it was owned by a friend, but still, he was shocked how soon I got that job!)  Very shortly afterwards,  I started back up in interior design after a 20 year hiatus (long story)  helping a few friends with their daughters' bedrooms.  I named my new, fledgling business Webb Design, and, urged on by a girlfriend who happened to be a Criminal Court Judge (I wasn't about to argue with her!) I quit the insurance business and started working for myself full time.  That was about eight years ago. 

 

One of my first jobs as an interior designer:  a friend's daughter's bedroom.  We wallpapered the room in a dotted blue and white pattern and added a toile border (I waned to do the entire room in toile, but she was too afraid to do that - times sure change!!!)  We bought a room full of Ethan Allen painted furniture and I had all the soft goods made by Monica - who remains my go-to person all these years later.  The only place to put the bed was against the window, so to make it seem more grounded - I had this faux arched canopy built and draped with the toile fabric.  The carpet is a blue and white pattern, which is hard to see in this picture.  Here again, I wanted the client to do a white with blue carpet, but she resisted!   That's a wicker bench in front.  There's also an armoire and a secretary desk in the room; and a skirted table along with a nightstand!  I started out doing skirted tables, I guess.  For the ensuite bathroom, we papered that room in the toile.   All in all I was proud of my first effort out.    Eight years later, the room is unchanged and Stacy, the daughter, still loves it.

 

FIVE ITEMS ON YOUR TO-DO LIST TODAY:

1.  Try to do billing!!!   The bane of my existence!

2.  Meet the electricians at a client's house to approve the installation of two pairs of sconces and one lantern.

3.  Meet the rug man at another client's house to approve a new living room rug. Whoa!  Two appointments in one day - a rarity for me!

 

The Egyptian rug going into a client's house.

4.  Go to M. Naeve to return some things for a client and drool over her new shipment.

 

M. Naeve, my favorite antique store!!

5.  Start to get my house ready for Father's Day brunch on Sunday afternoon.

6.  Try to do billing!!! ugggghhh.

I know it said five things, but I didn't count on having two appointments in one day.  Jeez, I'm exhausted by all this work.

 

SNACKS I ENJOY:

1.  Starbucks:  tall coffee with sugar free French vanilla, sweet n low and foam on the top - delicious!

2.  Starbucks vanilla biscotti.

3.  Hershey's Extra Creamy Milk Chocolate with Toffee and Almonds.

4. All time favorite:  Jelly Belly's Popcorn!

 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE A BILLIONAIRE:

1.   Set up accounts for parents, in laws, sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews, best friend.  Give them each 10 million!  Let's see that's:    $130,000,000 already.   hmmm.  Not much left now!

2.  Set up a family foundation for charity.

3.  Build or remodel a house  in Southampton (a neighborhood in Houston, not NY)  exactly how I want it - if I can only decide on one style.  Buy out M. Naeve's inventory for new said house.  Buy out everything in M. Naeve!  I mean that seriously. 

 

House for sale in Southampton - Houston, Texas.  Built in 1921 and located in the first gated community in Houston. 

 

The drive up to house, just gorgeous!

 

The back yard swimming pool and studio.  And this is right in the heart of Houston, two minutes from the Texas Medical Center. 

If I don't buy an old house, I will build a dream house - something like this new house for sale in Southampton.

4.  Buy a house at The Shores in South Padre Island and a house in Galveston, Texas for quick weekends.

House in The Shores, South Padre Island where Ben and I want to retire to.

And another house at The Shores.  We'll take both, we're billionaires, remember?

 

 

Since South Padre is 6 hours away by car, we will need a weekend home close by in  Galveston.  This is the new development on East Beach - Beachtown, Galveston.   Galveston only wishes it looked this good!

 

5.  Open a clothing store for my daughter to run.

6.  Apply for unemployment, I'll be totally broke after all this.

 

PLACES I WOULD LIVE:

1.  See #4 above!

The Shores, South Padre Island, Texas. Yeah, yeah, I know - I'm a billionaire, why stay in Texas?  Well, if you know my husband, his motto is "anyplace in Texas beats anyplace outside"  OR "anything not is Texas is a third world country" - seriously.   Leaving the state of Texas for Ben is  like leaving the country.

 

2.  The Hill Country, Texas on a lake, any one of them.

 

The Texas Hill Country, scenic drive, with bluebonnets - our state flower.  And yes, it IS this beautiful in the spring. 

See, I told you!

 

Lake Travis, largest of the lakes in the Hill Country. We'll buy a house here for UT game weekends -- football, basketball, and baseball.

 

3.  And, lastly, of course, Houston, always.

Home sweet home

Ok, I'm supposed to tag five people, but I don't think there is anyone left who hasn't already been tagged.  If you haven't been tagged, please tag yourself!  You're it!!!!

West University: The Starbucks Route

 

Melissa from The Inspired Room recently hosted  a "drive by contest"- basically, she asked her readers to take pictures of their favorite neighborhood homes.   These are some of my favorite homes  I drive by while going on my daily Starbucks run.  I live in The City of West University, a small town  encircled by Houston.  Named for its location west of Rice University, we have our own mayor and city council, and our own fire and police department too.  We have all the benefits of small town living with big city conveniences.  It's the best of both worlds.     Calling the police for a missing cat or a bee sting isn't out of the norm.   We have curbside recycling and there's a park every few blocks.  Moving back to the big city isn't something we ever want to do, although we could, easily, become Houstonians simply by moving over only one block!

The City of West University was once filled with compact bungalows, inexpensively built for the returning WWII GIs.   The average lot is a small, postage stamp size of 50' x 100.'     For the past 25 years, West U has been in a building frenzy. Young professionals are lured to small town living because of its close proximity to downtown and the Texas Medical Center.     What was once a lower middle class neighborhood is now one of the more exclusive places  to live.   Ben and I were lucky to get into West U early, before we were priced out.  We've watched our street go from being almost exclusively small bungalows to now 90 percent new homes.    Old timers decry the changing landscape of our little town, but the vibrancy the young families bring to what was once an aging population, makes it hard to be against the regentrification.    When the rebuilding started, most people opted for red brick Georgian styled, two storied homes.  Now, the trend is to build with stucco instead of red brick and French instead of Georgian. 

Today, while driving to Starbucks and snapping photos of  my favorite homes along my route, I noticed that I am very partial to the new, trendy  kind of home:  stucco, French inspired, with a straight facade.  Three distinct items that my own home definitely lacks!  Interesting.   Enjoy my Starbucks Route favorites:

 

This pale yellow home has gray shutters and french doors instead of windows. I love the way the wisteria grows over the arches.  The color combination hits home:  the interiors of my house are painted yellow with gray trim.

 

Creamy stucco and arched french doors. I love the large, plank shutters and winding front walkway, bordered with irregular brick pavers.

 

Gray stucco, arched french doors again.  I'm beginning to sense a trend in the type of house that I'm attracted to.   And it's for sale!

 

Creamy stucco, gray trim, arched french doors.  This is starting to get redundant!!!   I love the neat rows of freshly clipped boxwoods.

 

Ah, finally!  Something different!  Sort of.  This is a double wide lot so the house is somewhat atypical.   Half brick, half stucco,  wooden plank gray shutters.  I love the "front porch" off to the side with its wisteria covered pergola.

 

Wow!  Non arched French doors!!!!!  I like the ivy growing up just over the lower half of the house.  And the window boxes on the second floor are romantic.  This facade is not perfectly straight either.   Notice how the single, shuttered window above the front door adds an element of charm.

 

I like the front walkway with its concrete squares at the street.  I would put huge urns filled with trailing ivy on top of these.  I also like just the small touch of iron work above the front door.  

 

I love the look of this house with it's one large gable.  The home has a charming, storybook quality to it.  Notice how their driveway has the same gate as the Wheat's house.  I like the irregular cobblestones of the front walk, too.  Uh oh - their tree looks as stressed out as my tree does!

 

 

Because West U has such small town lots, front loading garages are popular, but unattractive, choices.    Here, this family tried to disguise the garage with wooden carriage doors.  I like the effort!   If this was my house though,  I would have narrowed the driveway considerably and paved it in stone or crushed granite instead of concrete.

 

The City of West University used to be filled with bungalows just like this, until they were almost all replaced with two story homes.  Here, this family chose to update rather than demolish their WWII bungalow.  A new front porch, siding, and landscaping helps this little house compete with the big guys in curb appeal.

 

Not all West University homes are stucco or French.  Here, a contemporary porch updates the brick and shingle facade.  To the left of the house, you can just see what is most notable about this house:  they purchased the lot next door, something which the fortunate do to increase their outdoor living space. 

 

 

Here's what they did with their lot next door:  the owners remodeled the existing bungalow to resemble the main house.   They built a swimming pool on the extra lot and now use the remodeled bungalow as a pool house.   They also added a screened in porch with a tin roof, thus making quite a nice compound.

    

The City of West University is known as the City of Trees - which you can plainly see why on this one corner.    The owners  purchased this small, yellow bungalow to preserve these great, live oak trees from someone else building a new mac mansion on the lot.   The tree on the corner is so huge that its limbs touch the ground.  Each Christmas, the owner makes a giant reindeer out of hay.  The two limbs on the ground become the antlers, which she strings with Christmas lights! 

When building a new house in West University, any trees removed are first inspected by our Forestry Department.   Each viable tree removed has to be replaced.  The tree's trunk is measured and the size of the replacement tree is then determined.  It's a very serious business, one which we faced when we built our own house.

 

This charming house built on two lots was just completed.  It's not stucco, it's painted stone.  In the back yard,  there is a pool house and another small building that houses the cars, both outbuildings resemble the main house.  Landscaping was going in today.   Notice the arches over the French doors are made of red brick as is the front courtyard.

 

Here's a glimpse of the back yard with the pool house on the left  and garage in the middle.  I love the cupola windows and slate roofs.  The back courtyard with the two outbuildings and swimming pool is the most charming part of the house -  it's a shame you can't see it through the brick fence!!

 

 

The one that got away:  one day this house will be mine!  Renowned architect Kurt Aichler designed this house for himself and it's been sold at least three times since his family moved out.  He used antique elements in the design, starting with the front door.  I especially love the stuccoed front courtyard accessed through two antique iron gates, charming details that Aichler is known for.   The front lawn is especially large for a West U home.  Inside, the house is even prettier - it's been published more than once.

 

 

Why?   When these owners recently painted their house screamingly bright cantaloupe, everyone scratched their heads.    Driving down the staid street, seeing this house wakes me up faster than the Starbucks!  Terrible!!!!

 

 

WHY?????  Why build a home that resembles Versailles (and probably costs more to build) and then install  metal storm shutters over the windows as if your home was beach front, rather than being 50 miles away?   And if you DO have to install storm shutters - why keep them half down, half up?  The owners of this monstrosity play games with the storm shutters.  Each morning I drive by, different windows are covered by the metal shutters, while others are left exposed.   Today, the dining room shutters were raised up for some reason.  This house was under construction for over a year.  And still, they left the landscaping for the amateurs.  WHY??????

 

If you are thinking of buying a new home or building one, it's a good idea to go around your neighborhood taking pictures of houses that appeal to you.  Then, when looking at all the different homes together, a pattern should emerge of the details that you like.  This certainly happened to me with these pictures and I am not even looking to move.