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WHAT IS AN ORANGERY?
Typically, an Orangery, or Orangerie, is a glass-fronted building providing expansive views of the gardens. Originally used to protect oranges, other citric fruits and to grow pineapples in during the winter months, Orangeries became fashionable, luxurious places to wine and dine guests.
WHY BUILD AN ORANGERY?
We chose to commission Hampton Conservatories to design and build a beautiful glasshouse to complement and enhance our surroundings. We wanted a unique purpose-built Orangery to house wedding receptions. But we also wanted something we would feel proud of, and sympathetic to the important country Hunting Lodge of Edward V111 – Edward and Mrs Simpson used to stay here when holidaying in Kent and partying with their neighbour, Sir Phillip Sassoon.
HOW IS AN ORANGERY DIFFERENT TO A CONSERVATORY?
Mervyn Montgomery (MD of Hamptons Conservatories) said :“The simplest explanation is that a conservatory has a fully glazed, pitched roof, which rests on the external side frames, whereas an Orangery has a solid flat roof, with either one or several glazed roof lanterns set into it”.
WHAT WILL THE ORANGERY BE USED FOR?
This extensive project at Hayne House will provide you with an elegant, fabulous, magnificent light-filled venue for special occasions, Christmas parties, indoor wedding ceremonies, wedding receptions, dancing – and it will have a private bar.
HOW WILL WE HEAT THE ORANGERY?
Whatever the weather we have made provisions to make it comfortable all year round. Our Orangery will have a combination of solid and glazed wall sections, providing additional shade in summer and a greater feeling of enclosure in winter – it is both perfect in the summer and for winter weddings and events.
On a beautiful summer’s day or balmy evening, the numerous glass doors open onto the charming landscaped gardens, mature trees and herbaceous borders onto the lawns, which are ideal for early evening drinks and games. There are also three lanterns (or roof-lights) that make up part of the ventilation system, acting as vents automatically releasing a build-up of hot air which will be perfect when the party really gets started.
On cold, wet or inclement days, we have opted to have underfloor heating fitted, as it is the least intrusive and means we don’t have to have unsightly radiators in your photos.
WHY DID WE CHOOSE HAMPTON CONSERVATORIES?
With over 30 years of experience, in recent years, industry experts have heaped praise upon Hamptons’ designs: pronouncing them to be “exceptional in every respect, displaying imagination, creativity and commitment to details that sets new standards” and “…with evidence of exceptional design and production skills”.
We liked them as, like us, they are a family-run business offering high quality products and who are customer focused with a dedicated and friendly team. We also liked that they concentrate on the detail – right down to providing the best architectural hardware including door handles, hinges etc.
WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF ORANGERIES?
When bitter and sweet oranges arrived in the Mediterranean, with their glamorous green leaves, wax-white star-shaped flowers with extravagant scent, tangy sweet-tasting fruit with glowing fiery golden hues that are a source of natural health and essential oils, they were seen as gifts from the Gods.
The orange tree, unrivalled for its beauty, became a symbol for great wealth and a romantic inspiration to poets, interior and textile designers, jewellers and painters. It was a favourite decorative motif to signify a marital theme. Orange-blossom was used in highly perfumed bridal bouquets and marital head-dresses (in 1840 Queen Victoria wore a wreath of fragrant orange-flower blossoms over her lace wedding veil instead of a diamond tiara: white flowers for virginity, orange for fertility).
However, citrus cultivation both challenged gardeners and inspired garden designers and horticulturalists to find means and ways of protecting and nurturing these precious fruit, especially when growing in unsuitable climates. The fragile plants like to be shielded from the wind so they can grow tall, like some shade, some moisture and in cooler climates to winter indoors. Initially silk merchants such as Johann Christoph Volckamer (1644-1720) described how they used to protect their precious citrus fruits with “the old wooden, winter Pomeranzen houses (German word for sour orange) with roofs insulated with straw and loam”. However, in the seventeenth century new developments in Dutch technology enabled the production of expanses of clear glass. This changed the architectural scene dramatically, and the buildings became increasingly ornate to reflect the exotic, rare and therefore extremely expensive highly prized plants they housed. Citrus trees were proof of wealth, and the Orangery, a major status symbol for the rich and fashionable.
One of the most famous Orangeries, at Versailles, took nearly ten years to build (Jules Hardouin-Mansart) but became the talk and envy of the aristocratic world, becoming the venue for garden parties and masked balls. Then the Orangerie in the gardens of the Palace of Schonbrunn, Vienna was built 1745 by Pacassi, to rival Versailles. It was a Baroque winter home for potted fruit-laden plants and the trees were illuminated for spectacular royal banqueting parties and imperial festivities, and are still used today to entertain American Presidents.
OPEN DAY
If you are recently engaged (or know someone else looking for a garden wedding in Kent in 2018), why not book to come along to our next Open Day on Sunday 8th January 2017 between 10am and 4pm? Please email enquiries@haynehouse.co.uk or ring us on 01303 262555
DRUMROLL
Orangery by www.hamptonconservatories.co.uk 0207 8872279
David Fenwick http://www.davidfenwick.co.uk/ 01304 615110
Illustrations by Paul Avis Smiley Jim Limited 07873 522110
L’Orangerie de Luc Red from our selection of great wines from Languedoc http://www.famillefabre.com/en/wines