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April 23, 2009

Hooked on… sunrooms

tanglewood poolside_retreat_detail_wWeeeehooo!!! It’s Friday!!!!! :-)

And that means Julia at Hooked on Houses is hosting her weekly blog party, Hooked on Fridays! It’s  fun to visit all the Hooked on Fridays participants and check out what everybody is loving this week…

What I’m hooked on this Friday is sunrooms — also called patio rooms, solariums, conservatories, patio enclosures, or Florida Rooms. I like sunroom because it’s short and easy to spell ;-) And also because it best describes what a sunroom is to me — a room filled with sun :-) Well, except for when it’s raining. But that’s a great time to enjoy a sunroom too — when the weather is uncooperative. Or when the mosquitoes are out looking for a snack. You feel like your outside, but you’re not getting wet or bitten :-)

History

dome I found all sorts of information about when and where the first conservatories were built. Unfortunately, each source names different dates and countries.

According to Oak Conservatories, it’s likely that the first glass pavilions were built in France in 1385 to house flowers. The establishment of the European Botanical Gardens in 1544 at the University of Pisa and in 1545 at Padua, coupled with the growth in botanical studies and the age of exploration, encouraged the beginnings of orangeries and protected gardening. The Dutch built orangeries in the 16th century, and the English built orangeries soon after that.

One of the most famous British orangeries is the Queen Anne Orangery, built in the early 1700s. It was designed so that the citrus trees could be rolled out onto the terrace during good weather, and then rolled back into the orangery during bad weather.

queen anne

Modern sunrooms

Today, sunrooms are mainly built as rooms for living in. They’re usually made of aluminium, PVC, or timber with tempered glass walls and roofs.

Sunrooms come in all shapes and sizes and styles. They’re typically attached to a house, but some sunrooms are free-standing

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Love this brick one with the copper roof — reminds me of an old post office, for some reason. Check out the beautiful wood detailing on the inside…

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I suppose this one is really a pool house, but it’s so pretty that I have to include it here :-)

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Some sunrooms have a dome….

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A sunroom roof can be solid, but it’s usually glass to let in lots of light…

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Some sunrooms are glass all the way around….

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And some have just a glass roof. At least you can walk around naked in this one if the mood strikes ;-)

trombe lr

This one isn’t exactly a sunroom, it has great skylights

trombe dining room 2

How about this sunroom — glass all the way around!!

conservatory all glass savills magazin

A sunroom on a red brick house…

conservatory tanglewood

…and a sunroom on a stone house…

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I don’t know where this stone house is, but I bet the views from the sunroom are spectacular!!

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Another sunroom with a beautiful copper roof and wood interior. Not a bad chandelier either!!

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Is it wrong to have sunroom envy??

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And finally, Brooke from Velvet & Linen and her husband, Steve, have this beautiful sunroom…

conservatory brooke 1 conservatory brooke 2

*Sigh*  Yep, I definitely have sunroom envy!!

After you’re done soaking up some rays here, head on back to Hooked on Houses to see what everyone else is hooked on this week :-)

sig

Unless otherwise noted, all pictures from:

Trombe (UK)

Tanglewood Conservatories (Maryland, USA)

25 comments:

Arleen said...

Absolutely stunning! I want to refresh and scroll through this series of photos again and again. Then, I think I'd be hard-pressed to choose a favorite, but it would probably be all white with more windows than not. Thanks so much for sharing all of these photographs! ~Arleen

Jenny said...

I'll take one! Those are gorgeous pics!

Terry said...

From this era, I vote for the house with the transoms with Gothic lights. I'd never seen the Queen Anne Orangery. It is stunning and a hard act to follow. Thanks so much.

Maya@Completely Coastal said...

Oh boy, you found some pretty spectacular sunrooms here..., stunning, and somewhat fairy-tailish.

Misti of Studio M Designs said...

I so have sunroom envy. And why Brooke from Velvet and Linen would ever want to move is beyond me! Her house is gorgeous! The free-standing sunrooms are just a little piece of heaven. I can imagine myself out there creating away the day...

~Misti

Mary Beth said...

The pictures you chose are amazing...wow, wow and WOW! I have a sunroom but compared to these pictured...well, it is no where near these in appearance.

Gennaro said...

Beautiful sunrooms. So much variety too. I especially love the domes. Reminds me of Ancient Rome.

Carisa said...

I grew up in a house with a sunroom. It was such a wonderful little room. It had a whole wall of windows and a sloped ceiling. In the area I grew up, they were built for all the tuberculosis patients that sunned for medical reasons.

Michelle said...

Stunning! I especially like the one with the white modern chairs around the dr table. The Enflish have a way with the conservatory...that's for sure.

Great post- thanks so much!!

Local Girl said...

I love conservatories or orangeries as we call them here :) They make such a brilliant impact and they are a wonderful space for a dining room. Love all the images you used

mrsben said...

It must be catching Kelly, as I have Sunroom, Solarium, Conservatory (etc.) envy too. Do you think it has anything to do with us living in Canada and our infliction of loooooong Winters?

Extraordinaire photos Kelly! Thanks for sharing them. HAVE A BEAUTIFUL WEEKEND and enjoy the sunshine. -Brenda-

Velvet and Linen said...

I can't believe your included my humble sunroom along with these gorgeous images! I am so honored, Kelly.
That stone beauty and the one with the view are my favorites!
These images are definitely going in my inspiration file.
What a great way to start the weekend.

xo
Brooke

Susan Lang said...

These are absolutley divine! What a great place to curl up with my laptop and work on my blog post! I am hooked on sunrooms with you!

Tiffany said...

Oh my! Those rooms are glorious! I think my favorite is the room with the copper roof. I have a weakness for copper.

Puna said...

I love that sunroom with the copper roof. I'm a copper freak. I just love it. The rain must sound beautiful on it.

Karla said...

Gorgeous!! :)

Just wanted you both to know how much I love your blog! You are nothing short of inspiring every time you post! So, I nominated you for an award:
http://itsthelittlethingsthatmakeahouseahome.blogspot.com/2009/04/thank-you-dawn.html

Thanks for doing exactly what you do!

Karla @ It's The Little Things...

Rue said...

I forgot how much I missed having one of those! I had an itty bitty one when I lived in California, but my mom had one like these off of her house when I was a kid. We spent all our time out there even thought there wasn't a TV to keep us occupied. It's just one of those rooms you love "being" in. These are all gorgeous :)

rue

Dumbwit Tellher said...

Kelly you put me into a Conservatory cardiac arrest! I have for so long lusted after these, especially the European versions. My sis in law recently added one to her Scottish home, lucky girl.What a terrific post & so educating, which I love. Fun to read about Pisa as I got the good fortune of visiting there in (sigh...)1975!! Now I want a sun room as a pool house. Dream on Deb!

Have a sunny weekend Kelly,
xx deb

Julia @ Hooked on Houses said...

I have always fantasized about having a sunroom, so I loved this post! What gorgeous examples. Brooke's is one of my favorites. *sigh* So pretty.

ImagineCozy said...

I loved the white "Pool House". The photos are out of dreamland! Thank you for the post.

Daly Essentials said...

such beautiful pictures! I'm loving the one that has just the glass roof!

janet said...

Hi kelly, how ya doing girl? beautiful sunrooms but i would have to say my favorite is Brooke's, i could enjoy that space.
hugs
janet

The Animator's Wife said...

Man, I want the one with the wooden beams and interior woodwork around the window. One more thing to covet!

Thanks for the visit earlier-- You asked about my blog template and it is just the Minima template with some modifications on color and font and a few code changes to widen the header, wrappers, sidebar.

Hope that helps!

Decor To Adore said...

My husband's family in England has a beautiful conservatory built off of their 120 year old home. Love it!
Aren't Brooke's designs the loveliest? I adore her.

Sofia Striffler said...

Wow those sunrooms as gorgeous. It is funny we have a very bad sunroom right now and are looking into converting to an outdoor room with a roof and only one wall. I'll let you know what we decide. Expressively Sofia

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