This Orangery is an Antidote to Winter
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Today’s post comes from guest blogger Margaret Gilmour, a freelance writer who writes about simple living and is co-creator of Chester County Dwell, a hyper-local weblog and leading resource for sustainable living.
A Peek Inside a Gothic-Style Orangery
By Margaret Gilmour
What to do when your enthusiasm for the winter season withers?
If you’re Vincent Smith Durham, renowned interior and landscape decorator, you find shelter in your orangery at home in Embreeville, Pennsylvania.
In fact, Vincent tells me he’s taken to sipping his morning coffee in this garden room where he can gaze at winter—which is clearly happening outdoors—while he stays cozy inside, surrounded by fragrant and lush vegetation including Philippine oranges (Citrus x sinensis), Persian limes (Citrus x latifolia) and Ponderosa lemons (Citrus limon ‘Ponderosa’).
He likes having ripe and ready fruits available for picking year-round just a few steps from his kitchen. I don’t blame him. That appeals to me too.
Vincent designed his Gothic-style citrus grove over eight years ago with the help of friend and architect Peter Archer of Archer and Buchanan, also in Pennsylvania. Together the two created what the orangery attached to his 18th-century house.
Apparently Vincent has admired Gothic architecture and Italianate farmhouses for years, and his addition gave him the opportunity to add a touch of the un-ordinary to his home. I loved exploring the orangery’s lively details—like the copper bells dangling from the tin roof, which is topped with a small tower—adding that touch of Italianate. The expansive, large windows are typical of the Gothic style, offering great views of Vincent’s garden and a southeastern exposure for his citrus trees.
The space receives mainly morning light and by 1:00 p.m. is shaded, but it’s enough sun to keep his citrus trees, ferns (Athyrium filix-femin), and small grove of bamboo (Phyllostachys bissetti) happy.
Vincent says he’d always wanted an orangery, and had Peter design this one just big enough to keep his new fruit trees and other potted greenery warm in the winter. All the vegetation is snug in the intimate space, sharing the room with a lounge chair, a small table and two chairs, and a drinking fountain built for Vincent’s two French bulldogs: Harry and Loui.
Vincent keeps his room a cool 55 degrees, since he’s not growing tropical plants that need steamier temperatures. And the comfortable climate makes the room another year-round living space where he can hang out, rather than visiting only when tending to plants.
In the summertime Vincent says he throws open the doors and evicts all portable plant material outdoors onto the pea-graveled patio surrounding the orangery, transforming the winter garden into an airy pavilion. He also moves his small table outdoors and replaces it with a larger one, located in the center of the room, for dining alfresco. Throw in dancing candlelight and a chorus of spring peepers. Why go anywhere else? ♣
All photos courtesy of ccdwell.com — they are used with permission here, and are copyrighted material that may not be otherwise duplicated.
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I love the exterior of this space as much as the interior. Nice design.
Sounds like a beautiful winter retreat. I love your active verbage– “evicts all portable plant material outdoors.”