Oranges in January
Hampton National Historic Site
Orangery, originally constructed ca. 1830s. Destroyed by fire 1926, reconstructed 1976. It was not possible to grow fresh oranges and lemons’ outside in Maryland, as delicate fruit trees could not survive the winter. The Ridgely family, however, enjoyed the luxury of having fruit on their table all winter long. To protect their treasured citrus plants, they built a specialized greenhouse called an orangery.
Designed to resemble a Greek temple, the building was heated by the sun through the glass panels on the south and east sides and by a hypocaust furnace. In summer, the potted citrus trees were placed around the garden paths. (Inscription beside the drawing in the upper right) The orangery was heated by a hypocaust, a heating system first used by the ancient Romans. A wood-burning furnace at one end produced heat, which ran through flues under the floor of the building and radiated around the room’s perimeter.
It has been truly said of Hampton that it expresses more grandeur than any other place in America…The formal terraces of exquisitely kept grass, the long rows of superb lemon and orange trees with the adjacent orangerie and the foreign air of the house, quite disturb one’s ideas of republican American.
Henry W. Sergent in A.J. Downing’s A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening,
this page online
Erected by National Park Service-United States Department of the Interior.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Colonial Era • Patriots & Patriotism • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1926.
Location. 39° 24.966′ N, 76° 35.298′ W. Marker is in Towson, Maryland, in Baltimore County. Marker is on Hampton Lane. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 535 Hampton Lane, Towson MD 21286, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Captain Charles Ridgely (within shouting distance of this marker); A Romance with Nature: The Falling Garden (within shouting distance of this marker); Ice Cream in July (within shouting distance of this marker); Ridgely's Pride (within shouting distance of this marker); Greenhouse #2 (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Hampton: An American Story (about 300 feet away); Behind the Big House (about 400 feet away); Wartime Support (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Towson.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on November 4, 2014, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 468 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on November 4, 2014, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
