Orangeries came to Britain from Holland around the 17th Century. Although they were previously developed during the Renaissance by the Italians, who were the first to develop glass making techniques enabling them to have sufficiently wide expanses of glass

to build with, it was the Anglo-Dutch trade links and the advent of sweet Indian oranges to Europe that really launched the craze here in Britain.

Of course the concept had not been unknown before, just difficult to carry out: even the Romans made some rudimentary greenhouses.

Orangeries were initially commissioned by nobles who wished to house citrus trees in them during the winter. They became a status symbol of the time, extending the life of the plants into the cold northern winters and gradually being fitted out with stoves rather than open fires to warm them further. The glazed roof arrived in the nineteenth century.

In France, the most famous Orangery was at the Palais du Louvre, Paris, built in 1617, perhaps best known for housing Marie-Antoinette before her journey to the Guillotine. This one in turn inspired the Versailles Orangery, built to house the King's 3000 orange trees. In Britain, architect Joseph Paxton, who built Crystal Palace, designed a monumental and spectacular Orangery at Chatsworth House, the first to out-measure Versailles. Today, you can go visit famous Orangeries at the royal Botanical Gardens, Kew or Kensington Palace for example.

Then, as now, the Orangeries were built as a beautiful addition to the property. The design was admired and thought about as much as the fruit it contained and, quickly, the Orangery became the latest place to entertain your guests in cooler weather.

Today the design and build of an Orangery can best add prestige and value to your home.

The Orangery is a more luxurious form of conservatory, using modern insulation techniques and materials to add a year-round luxury living space to your home.