Comments Off on Rawlings Conservatory Celebrates 130th Birthday
A Message from Rawlings Conservatory:
The Rawlings Conservatory in Baltimore is 130 years old this year and it will celebrate its birthday in style this December. Built in 1888, the Conservatory is the second oldest glass house in the United States.
To celebrate, the Friends of the Rawlings Conservatory are hosting
“A Glistening Winter’s Evening in Baltimore’s Glass Palace”
Friday, Dec. 7th at 7:00 PM
The party will be set amid hundreds of flowers in the annual holiday poinsettia show, with a spectacular variety of poinsettias of all colors. The event will feature crafted cocktails, festive hors d’oeuvres and live jazz.
The party begins at 7 p.m. and tickets are $75 per person, available through the Conservatory’s website.
The Conservatory’s annual Holiday Poinsettia Show runs Dec. 1 to 30. Poinsettias, including many unusual varieties and colors, will be for sale throughout the show. No longer is red the main attraction, we have orange, pink with splashes of white, and variegated as well. The gift shop is also well-stocked with books, cards, and house plants.
Visit with Santa! On Dec. 2, visitors can meet Santa from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
In January…
The conservatory will host an Orchid Show with the Maryland Orchid Society, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Friday – Sunday, January 11 – 13. Admission is free, $5 donation appreciated.
The orchid – the largest and most diverse flowering plant family on earth, loved for its unmatched exotic beauty – will be in the spotlight. The Conservatory, in partnership with the Maryland Orchid Society (MOS) is hosting the show exhibiting MOS members’ prize-winning plants. Meet with the Conservatory’s Orchid Specialist Friday and Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m.
For more information about events, the conservatory, and more visit
Posted October 31st, 2018 by Nicole Mihalos and filed in Uncategorized
Comments Off on Tanglewood visits Kew Gardens in London
Have you witnessed the magnificent new Temperate House at Kew?
If not, this is a must see world wonder. It is the largest Victorian glasshouse in the world at twice the size of its more famous sister, the great Palmhouse at Kew. Designed by Decimus Burton, who also designed the Palm House, construction began in 1860 and soon after opened to the public in 1863.
It houses the largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world, and an internationally important collection of temperate zone plants, including some of the rarest and most threatened.
“The conservatories at Kew Gardens are an essential and fascinating chapter in the story of conservatories throughout the world.”
-Alan Stein
We visited the newly renovated conservatory shortly after completion of its five year, £41m restoration and met with Richard Barley, MCIHort, FLS, Director of Horticulture, Learning & Operations at Kew.
Our mission – to photographically capture what makes this 155 year old Grand Dame so uniquefor our upcoming book published by Princeton Architectural Press “Conservatories of the Nineteenth Century and Beyond”.
Why? – To provide inspiration for conservatory designers and enthusiasts around the world.
Next… What truly makes this 155 year old Grand Dame so unique?
Comments Off on Tanglewood Amplifies Local Trade Talent through Untangled Minds’ AMP program!
Imagine… changing the lives of students, teachers, business leaders and an entire community…
Students of the Advanced Manufacturing Professionals (AMP) program dream of becoming a Master Craftsperson. One student’s passion for working with his hands led to a summer internship at Tanglewood.
Tanglewood intern awarded Golden Saw from Tanglewood Engineer and AMP Teacher/Mentor, Mike Panschisin
Throughout his internship, he experienced woodworking, metalwork, handling glass, painting, construction, and CNC machining, while helping craft Tanglewood’s luxury conservatories.
“He is a wonderful asset to our team. He has a great outlook and attitude. The students in the AMP program learn what we call “Discovery Development”; how to take ownership, think like a business owner and be coachable. We are excited and look forward to having him back in the Spring.”
Alan Stein, Tanglewood President and Director of Architecture
A Program of Opportunity
Working alongside and learning from local industry professionals, students are currently designing and constructing a Cajon while preparing to take their Manufacturing Skills Standards Council certification; a nationally recognized industry program for advanced manufacturing professionals. The Cajón is the most popular and widely used Afro-Peruvian musical instrument for the last 200 years and is now used not only in Cuban and Peruvian music but by folk musicians, Flamenco musicians, acoustic groups, street musicians (buskers) and increasingly, professional mainstream artists. Students went all out on this project! The intricate detailing of this Cajon will test their skills.
AMP student learns the intricacies of dovetail joinery as they work on the final assembly of their custom designed Cajon project alongside a master craftsmen from partner Hinckley Yachts.
By the end of the semester, students will pursue internships with local businesses specialized in the trades.
To follow the AMP students’ progress, subscribe to their newsletter HERE.
Giving Back
AMP is just one of the many ways Tanglewood is giving back to our community and passing on our skills to the next generation. The program’s advanced approach to project-based learning fused with personal development is preparing students well in advance to walk into well-paying jobs and good benefits right out of high school.
To support our youth in discovering their life vision and passions through advanced manufacturing and woodworking, donate here.
Tanglewood, Untangled Minds, and the AMP program are proud partners with the Mid-Shore Community Foundation, Caroline County Public Schools, and several industry partners across Maryland’s Eastern Shore
Comments Off on 2 Continuing Education Units. 1 Amazing Mastermind Experience.
Success… doesn’t come easy.
You know from experience attracting the right clientele can be difficult. Plus, it’s easy to get bogged down in the day to day operations of your business. The best way to break through this common barrier is learning from others’ experiences, success, and failures to think creatively about moving prospects faster!
That is why Tanglewood Conservatories in partnership with the Untangled Minds Foundation is currently developing an AIA Continuing Education Course to help architects do just that.
This course will be designed to bring architects and other professionals together to assist one another in evaluating their current processes and ways of working with clients from three key perspectives: People, Business, and Life. Whether communicating to clients the value you bring to a project or getting others to make decisions in a timely manner, this course is designed to tap into your current systems and develop it into a well-oiled machine generating MORE QUALIFIED LEADS and INCREASING REVENUEwithout working more hours!
Are you ready for MORE success?
Click here to receive email updates with upcoming event dates and details.
All proceeds donated to the Untangled Minds Foundation; a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to empowering minds through educating them about the importance of leadership and entrepreneurial skill opportunities that lie beyond traditional mediums.
“I myself worked construction most of my life and even had my own business. I started working here in the fall five years ago thinking maybe just hang in here for the winter BUT I found working on these projects with these guys was so fulfilling that I’ve made a career out of it. So if you have a little bit of common sense, some tools, and a sense of adventure, give us a try. You may be like me and stay for a while!”
– Rusty, Tanglewood Team Member
Will you share Rusty’s message with craftsmen you know looking for a REWARDING career?
Comments Off on Unique Conservatories – What Is The Attraction?
Is it a trend… or a lifestyle…?
According to Mansion Magazine,
“Home designers are turning to a time-honored transparent transition: the conservatory… these spectacular bespoke glass houses were symbols of wealth from the 17th through the 19th centuries, [and have] become an integral architectural element in luxurious homes and high-rises around the globe”.
Nancy Ruhling, writer for Mansion Magazine, recently interviewed Tanglewood President, Alan Stein, to understand why people are incorporating these unique structures into the design of their homes. Why?
When he and his wife, Nancy Virts, founded Tanglewood Conservatories over 25 years ago, they discovered this growing trend for the fascination of conservatories and greenhouses and our client’s desire to live in them. In their 25 years, the major shift they have seen is in their use; from traditional living spaces attached to the home to a more exotic space not only for living but for growing plants. Conservatories have become a part of their everyday lives, creating memories and living out their passions daily.
According to Alan,
“Today, greenhouses are much more popular at the high end of the market than they were 15 to 20 years ago.”
As the conservatory lifestyle grows, designers, architects, and owners are incorporating these glass room as key design features when remodeling or designing new homes.
Alan mentioned,
“They add a magical sense—the light coming in from above allows you to see the room in a significantly different way… every element is exposed, it’s a piece of art, not just another room. And that is exactly why people are falling in love with the conservatory.”
So how are owners around the globe using these rooms?
Elegant steel and glass pool pavilion, which became the highlight of a large renovation project. Cast iron and aluminum details stylishly complement the work.
The conservatory is one of three focal pieces in the Pagoda Garden project conceptually designed by Gilkey and Jannopoulo. The project consists of different vignettes or “rooms” that present unique aspects of Asian design — a grouping of authentic Chinese Pagodas, a one of a kind koi pond, and a greenhouse in the conservatory style.
Comments Off on The Rawlings Conservatory “An empty pot is just a pot full of wishes!”
Kate Blom accepting Rawlings Conservatory plaque by Tanglewood Conservatories
“An empty pot is just a pot full of wishes,” Kate Blom says. Her response is to think, “Okay let me make you beautiful.” That is what she did for the Rawlings Conservatory in Baltimore during her 18½-year tenure as director.
She was in charge when the Conservatory grew from an aging glass house with some dirt-floored greenhouses into one of Baltimore’s jewels. Major renovations in 2004 preserved the original Palm House, dating to 1888, and updated the greenhouses that now house plants from three climates – Mediterranean, tropical and desert.
As she retired from her post this month, Kate looked back on the changes and fun times. “It’s been great. I’m grateful to so many people along the road, lots of good people.”
She started in December 1999 when the renovations were still just plans. “We were programming as best we could, getting ready for renovations, figuring out what plants to keep.”
The groundbreaking in 2002 is one of her favorite memories. And the grand re-opening in 2004 was even better.
“When the first school buses came after the renovation, it made me cry,” she said. “I thought, ‘they’re coming!’”
She’s especially proud of the Conservatory’s programs for children, such as Little Leaves, which brings city second graders to the Conservatory to discover and learn about plants.
“Little Leaves is just incredible … Watching a kid look at a banana tree and get it.” She said she always wanted to work with children and the Conservatory programs now are “really changing lives, making a difference. That’s always important.”
Among her many memories, she recalls the day a big limousine arrived and out stepped Maryland Comptroller and former governor and mayor William Donald Schaefer. “I gave him a tour, showed him our plans. He was pleased. That was nice.” Then there was the time she looked at the guest book to see it had been signed by Oprah, who wrote “My Baltimore!” As Kate said, “Darn, I missed her.”
She learned that it’s not so bad to hold a boa constrictor, when she helped save one that was found freezing outside the Conservatory. And she had lots of fun putting on the annual poinsettia and spring flower shows. She recalls the Conservatory getting its own web page and how that “put us on the map.”
The conservatory is a popular wedding venue now, with at least one every week, sometimes two or three.
And of course, there are the plants. She was “seeing something new every day,” different plants blooming, some for the first time since being planted.
In all, she said, it’s been “A wonderful job. The best in the city.”
And it wasn’t her first career. Kate was born in Baltimore and graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in journalism. It was the time of the Pentagon Papers news and Kate was determined to get a job at the Washington Post. “Katherine Graham was a big hero for me.” She managed to get hired as a copy aide first, and then spent 22 years in advertising sales. When she moved to Baltimore, the commute and family obligations proved to be too much and she decided to do something different.
She’d always liked plants, watching watermelon seeds grow into a plant when she was a child, filling her home with plants. So she took courses at Dundalk Community College in horticulture, took Master Gardener classes and worked in nurseries. After visiting public gardens with her classes, she decided that is where she wanted to work. Then she landed the job at the Conservatory.
As for retirement, Kate is enjoying the free time now, working in her own garden and helping her sister who is dealing with illness. She also has a son and two grandchildren she can spend time with and she wants to hang out and travel with her longtime friend, Maggie. “I feel lighter in many ways; my priorities are where they should be.”
Her wishes for the Conservatory? She has a potful.
First is the renovation of the historic Palm House with “a 100-year fix, not just a 20-year Band Aid.” Plans for a feasibility study are underway now.
She’d also like to see the fulfilling of the master plan for more space, another building for administration, space for shows. More children’s programs, more staff. “I just want more of everything, bigger gardens,” she said.
“I really think Baltimore deserves and should have a first-rate Conservatory and botanical garden. It helps a city grow.”
Comments Off on What Makes Great Architecture | Ken Tate
What is great architecture?
Is great architecture the timeless notion of beauty? Need it be eternally memorable from creation, obliged to tell a thousand stories?
Must great architecture exhibit bold and purposeful innovation? Should it express its function in an interesting and meaningful way, demanding admiration for its immodest assertion?
Is great architecture a strangely familiar reaffirming of tradition? Expertly crafted to solicit a strong visceral reaction, stirring us at an almost spiritual level?
Does great architecture conform to universal laws of symmetry and proportion? Should it resonate with its surroundings and faithfully appeal to our sense of balance?
According to ancient Roman architect, Vitruvius, architecture is as much math and science as it is philosophy and art. His famous treatise, De Architectura, outlined three fundamental principles essential for architecture; balanced elements of firmitas, utilitas and venustas. In fact, the same theory still applies to architectural design today.
Likewise, award-winning architect, Ken Tate, carefully observes truth in Vitruvius’ basic principles by stating great architecture is a harmony of “composition, proportion and materials”, that when combined, exudes a “certain self-confidence.”
Self-described as an intuitive classicist, Tate is the recipient of a Shute Award from the Institute of Classical Architecture and three-time winner of the Southern Home Award from Southern Progress Corporation. His instinctive and open-minded approach to design has been featured in many magazines including Southern Living, Period Homes and Architectural Digest on numerous occasions; one of which was steel and glass pool pavilion designed and build in partnership with Tanglewood Conservatories. Widely recognized for his unrestrained imagination and awe-inspiring design aesthetic, Tate’s “creative approach is never quite the same from project to project.”
For Tate and architects alike, asking them what makes great architecture is “like asking Mozart how to create music”. It is, indeed, a subjective question. Almost indescribable – great architecture embodies a sense of “clarity to it where everything makes sense.” Artistic focus and detailed application of design create a balanced and harmonic architectural melody.
Individual to each architect’s imagination, Tate describes architecture “as something beautiful, not meant to show off”. It is quite simply a work of artistic genius. “You just know it when you see it.”
What distinguishes great architecture from good architecture?
This is sometimes difficult to discern. Most often the distinction is found in the smallest design details. It is the conscious consideration and polishing of each design component, such as window sills, paneling styles, door casings, hardware and the like.
“God is in the details.” – Mies van der Rohe
Like architect Ken Tate, Tanglewood also recognizes the importance of fundamental design details.
We invite you to marvel at our most recent partnership with architect Ken Tate. Tate’s carefully articulated vision of “old-world” style, paired with Tanglewood’s custom design and expert craftsmanship, inspired the creation of an extraordinary steel and glass pool pavilion. This project is sure to captivate your imagination and inspire your own creativity.
Are you thinking about transforming your home into a luxurious retreat?
Let’s talk about your vision for your next home renovation. Contact us online or at 410.479.4700 to start the conversation.
Posted April 5th, 2018 by Nicole Mihalos and filed in Uncategorized
Comments Off on Spring Events at the Druid Hill Park Rawlings Conservatory
Spring at the Rawlings Conservatory
The Rawlings Conservatory in Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park comes to life in the spring, both inside and out with a flower show and new plantings.
“Catch a Rainbow,” the spring flower show is open now through April 8. Featuring hundreds of blooming bulbs, the show presents a kaleidoscope of color and texture in the greenhouses of the Conservatory. It might still be cool outdoors, but inside, it is definitely spring.
On May 17, you can try a cocktail made with botanical ingredients at Cocktails at the Conservatory, a biannual evening event with live music and snacks from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. It’s a pleasant spot for enjoying a beverage and mingling with friends. See www.rawlingsconservatory.org for details.
A bit later in the spring, the Rawlings’ outdoor gardens bloom when dozens of volunteers unite on Community Gardening Day, May 24, to plant the flower beds with annuals. The conservatory staff plans the design of the beds and orders the plants. The volunteers do the digging and planting. Everyone finishes with a picnic provided by the Friends of the Rawlings Conservatory. The gardens then provide a restful and colorful spot for visitors to the park throughout the spring, summer and fall.
Other events take advantage of the pretty backdrop of the conservatory, such as the Charm City Blue Grass Festival, April 27-28, with a pop-up concert April 19. http://charmcitybluegrass.com/index.html
The Druid Hill Farmer’s Market, http://www.druidhillpark.org/farmers-market.html, brings farm vendors as well as free yoga, movies and other activities every Wednesday from June 6 through October.
Posted April 5th, 2018 by Nicole Mihalos and filed in Uncategorized
Comments Off on Custom Steel and Bronze Windows and Doors: Discover Your Home Retreat
Imagine… waking up to the sound of light rain tapping on your window. The children awake with a sparkle in their eye, they run through the house full of excitement to the conservatory. For a moment they worry the day is ruined, but with the press of a button, the walls glide across the floor, opening your home to the beautiful outdoors, transforming your room into a protected outdoor retreat.
Ralph S. Dweck residence in Bethesda, Maryland photographed May 17, 2017 by Walter Smalling.
These are the days we live for; bringing families closer together through the power and inspiration of glass architecture. Brombal USA shares our passion. That is why Tanglewood Conservatories has partnered with Brombal as the Mid-Atlantic dealer for beautifully crafted steel and bronze windows and doors. As an innovator in the art of window and door production, Brombal has developed their artisanship over the course of more than fifty years. Tradition grounds them in the craftsmanship of their forebears and when combined with their new world technology, an incredible value is provided for every client.
The beautiful marriage between Tanglewood Conservatories and Brombal Steel Windows and Doors comes from our shared goal of providing an elite product that is not only innovative and elegant, but functional and designed with the ideas of the client in mind each and every time.
Want to learn more about Brombal’s new innovative line? Click here
When you are ready to transform your home into a getaway retreat, don’t wait. Talk with our specialists today at 410 479 4700.
