One of our recent projects was a custom designed traditional mahogany conservatory in Livingston, New Jersey; a leafy suburb located about twenty miles west of New York City.
The glass enclosure offers stunning views of the surrounding landscape and overlooks the outdoor swimming pool.
Choosing the Conservatory Design. We were contacted by the New Jersey developer while the house was still in the design phase. Working closely with the architect, Larry Appel, and the homeowner, we designed a modified Victorian- style bay conservatory with a roof lantern. The home has a very traditional design, with the mahogany conservatory as a showpiece of the house. The glass enclosed room is 500 sq. ft. and is immediately above the owner’s indoor swimming pool. The tall sidewalls float the lantern roof like a halo. The conservatory climbs to a whole new height, literally, 45′ from the ground. The conservatory is designed to complement the architecture of the home’s dramatic height and is situated to overlook the homeowner’s in-ground pool, which is accessed by elevator. The conservatory is the crown jewel of the home – tall and graceful, strong and sturdy, designed to look frail and delicate but withstand the fierce New Jersey winters.
How do you support the weight of a glass roof? Barely noticed in the design is a steel beam that runs up the center of the room and around the lantern. They steel ‘portal’ acts as a support that carries the load of the room. We wrapped the column in mahogany and made it a design feature.
Why were these materials chosen? The homeowner and architect met with Conservatory Craftsmen and were thrilled to have the option of building this signature conservatory from Sapele Mahogany grown in sustained plantations. The look and character of the wood give stunning detail to this house, which in itself has magnificent architectural detail. All of the interior finishing is also done in mahogany. Special wood finishes, designed in Sweden, allow the bright sun to maintain the fine detail to the interior space.
Chandeliers sought out and installed by the owners and interior designers, weigh over 500 pounds each and are handmade crystal. These chandeliers hang easily from the steel portal frames that support the conservatory structure. The gothic arches in the side wall glass are particularly impressive, these specialty muntins are hand cut from mahogany, and applied over inner spacer bars in the glass, we call this True Divided Lite and it gives the appearance of truly divided panes of glass. The roof lantern windows are led and have glass bevels to catch the sunrise and sunset and cast lovely reflections about the room.
It’s no secret, Conservatory Craftsmen will take your conservatory design to another level. We take pride in our designs and craftsmanship and will accept any design challenge to create a place of harmony and contentment for our clients.