Many of the greatest conservatory designers and installers operating today are heavily inspired by the classics, particularly those Great Conservatories of the Victorian era, a time often cited today as a golden age of conservatories.
Whilst the greatest, most important and most influential of the Great Conservatories, London’s Crystal Palace, tragically no longer exists, the orangery that influenced it and perhaps every recreational conservatory ever made still remains.
This singular orangery proved to be a turning point where garden buildings did not have to choose between being places of entertainment or places where nature was nurtured, but could, in fact, become both.
Starting With An Orange
By the 15th century, citrus fruits had been introduced to Europe and become so popular that certain cookbooks of the era had precise rules for how many slices a dignitary should be given.
The nobility and the working rich of the era wanted to cultivate oranges of their own, even though botanists of the era were uncertain as to whether citrus trees could be effectively grown in even the warmer climes of Southern France.
That proved to not be the case, as cleverly designed boxes, pruning techniques and the strategic withholding of nutrients allowed for citrus fruits to be produced, which led to a profoundly successful trade in citrus trees, as well as bananas and pomegranates.
Eventually the use of box shelters extended to entire buildings dedicated to the growth of tropical and exotic fruits, which in turn led to the Louvre Orangerie, first completed in 1617 at the site of what is now the Musée de l’Orangerie.
The building, characterised by its huge, straight walls of glass, influenced a lot of similar buildings, but by far the most important of these in terms of its sphere of influence was not based in Paris but in Versailles.
The Sun King’s Southern Paradise
Built as an opulent paradise for King Louis XIV, the Palace of Versailles is filled with exceptionally influential and unique touches, but the most important one when it comes to conservatories is the Versailles Orangerie.
Built to house King Louis’ thousands of orange trees, the original 1663 version of the Orangerie was far smaller than the immense structure that exists today, which was largely a result of the grand wider ambition for the palace.
The reason for the sudden need for space for trees is due to a political scandal involving Nicolas Fouquet, who whilst Finance Minister of France in 1661 was arrested and three years later was convicted of misappropriation of funds and sentenced to life in prison, barely escaping either exile or the guillotine.
His conviction meant that his assets were seized, including a thousand orange trees that needed a space to put them in, hence the creation of a grand Orangerie.
Unusually, this means that the original Orangerie predates the Palace which it was ultimately made for, which stands in sharp contrast to the Great Conservatories found in the gardens of several English country houses.
Originally, a hunting lodge stood where the Palace now stands, but as it became more grandiose, so too did the Orangerie that stood alongside it.
The design was astonishing for the time, including a system for protecting exotic plants from the bitter chill of the French winter without overly relying on furnaces and artificial heat.
Shifting Purposes
What made the Orangerie at Versailles so important is that it was not necessarily just a facilitator for the nurturing of exotic plants and fruits.
It was very successful in doing this, which helped the Court of Louis XIV meet his demands for citrus trees to be placed in all of the state rooms to improve the ambience and the aroma of the buildings.
This became even more important to him as he developed an allergy to pollen in his old age and grew to adore the smell of citrus fruit.
However, what made it even more important to modern orangeries is that it became a place of spectacle, dining, entertainment and social gatherings.
The Orangerie was from the completion of its final form in 1688 up until the start of the French Revolution in 1789 a place for diplomats, foreign royals and other dignitaries to be entertained and shown the finest possible side of France.
It was the largest in Europe at the time and would be the largest conservatory-style building ever constructed until the rapid completion of Crystal Palace in London in time for the Great Exhibition of 1851.
Without the Orangerie of Versailles, however, the idea of having a glass structure designed not only to connect people with nature but also with each other may not have spread the way that it did, and we may not have the beautiful traditionally inspired conservatory designs available today.