BISHOP & COMPANY

A company profile

Since 1988 Bishop & Co. has become America's most experienced designer, importer and installer of traditional English conservatories. It all began when the Bishop's added a conservatory to their home in Glenview, Illinois.

Some highlights for Bishop & Co.:

• 10 years specializing in conservatory design and construction

• Over 200 conservatories erected from coast to coast

• Installations in all climates - from northern mountains to southern shores

• Designs for all types of uses: family rooms, dining areas, greenhouses, & orchid rooms, porches, swimming pool & spa enclosures and major commercial projects

• All sizes have been constructed -from small gazebos to large museums

• Over $15,000,000 in construction management since January 1989

• Recognized in the January 1997 Remodeling magazine feature on the major remodelers in the top markets; Bishop & Co., $2,000,000 volume

Our Installation Division

Services range from complete design-build of our conservatories in the Chicago Metropolitan area to design and installation or on-site supervision in other parts of the country. We work with construction partners, qualified firms that know local conditions and requirements. Bishop & Co. provides the technical expertise in conservatory design and our partners provide the balance of skills and services needed to complete a project.

While this lists our quantitative accomplishments, the real joy of being in this segment of the design business is in the returning to visit our owners after the conservatory is completed. Invariably they will say something like:

"We love our conservatory...we spend more time in this room than any other...I don't know why we have the rest of the house."

The Conservatory Lifestyle

A conservatory is an extraordinary glass enclosure, an elegant sunroom; a solarium and as originally conceived a winter garden and greenhouse. A conservatory is an especially beautiful enclosure for growing things of all types. A common descriptive phrase helps to define the conservatory lifestyle:

"Conservatories are for people and greenhouses are for plants

but all living things thrive under glass."

Conservatories, when first designed in the 17^th century, were intended to conserve exotic plant species in northern climates. Today, conservatories are designed to enhance our lifestyle … to help us laugh at winter while we sit in our modern winter gardens, surrounded by flowering plants, as the wind whips the chilled air and snow outside. In North American, conservatories represent a romantic escape, which can be capitalized through a range of products "in the conservatory lifestyle."

Conservatories are used as family rooms, dining rooms kitchen expansions, and pool and spa enclosures … from small porches and skylights to large restaurants and banquet halls. They are even used as elegant working greenhouses, most frequently for orchid collections. Conservatories are designed to enhance our appreciation of beauty and style … to be the jewel box … the crystal palace for the home environment … the room we gravitate to … to relax in … to bring the outdoors in year-around.

Conservatories are not acquired simply as room additions but as enhancements to lifestyle needs. Our owners seek an escape from the pressures of every day life; a space filled with light and plants. They find a conservatory is a soothing, romantic, emotional reward for their personal success. A conservatory is a luxury in the American market, yet we have built conservatories on as many modest suburban homes as we have on large estates.

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The "Conservatory Lifestyle",

Personal comments by Dave Bishop:

The Bishop conservatory was installed in July of 1989.  It is a standard projection of 16’7" by 15’1" wide.   It was part of a major remodeling project that included a family room, den and bedroom.

When designing our room addition I was determined to include a sunroom but found that I had to design what I wanted, I could not find a conservatory-styled product in the U.S.    That is when I determined that I needed to import a conservatory product.  In purchasing for our own use, my family has spent countless hours enjoying the light filled conservatory in all weather conditions and for many purposes.

We have kept the conservatory comfortable in a temperature range from 102 degrees above to 22 degrees below zero.  We have watched winter storms, crashing thunder and rain and, brilliant sun-filled mornings from our crystal palace.  We have watched deer, birds and animals of all kinds saunter by as we admire them from our comfortable vantagepoint. A conservatory is a space unlike any other.  I enjoy it every day.

Lifestyle reviews - owner’s comments

"When we entertain, people usually sit out here first. We’re very proud of this room. People go crazy over it."

"When it is too cold to be outside the children are more free in the conservatory; they don’t feel so would up because they feel like they are outside. It is spectacular for the children in the winter because here in Minnesota we can tend to get a bit of cabin fever – the winter time cabin fever is something the conservatory helps you escape from."

"Our friends love the conservatory not only because it is a novelty but because of the feeling it gives you to spend time in the room. Plants are all around, you are open to the sky and you have stars shining above you; it is heavenly!"

"It’s made a difference in our lives because we spend so much time together here, in this area."

"It’s a room that causes you to slow down and talk to people … and to relax … and to wipe out what drives you during the day. Everybody gravitates to this room. I’m not even sure why I have the rest of the house, because they like this room so much."

"After we really checked around, there was no doubt in our minds that this is what we wanted. You wouldn’t believe the compliments we get because of it."

"It’s my favorite room in the house. I go in there and its absolute solitude on the weekends. I water and prune the plants and oddly enough, it’s the only place where I can forget the outside world."

"You really can’t describe this. It’s such a peaceful setting … I love it. I really do."

"We made it larger that we anticipated, and I wish we had made it larger yet because I enjoy it so much."

"It’s great for entertaining and having breakfast there in a snowstorm is a remarkable experience."

At a recent cocktail party for forty: "Everybody who could fit was out here (in the conservatory) and everybody else was long-faced because they weren’t out here."

"The conservatory is a place where plants flourish, but where the family flourishes too. Even some conservatories that may be technically small seem a lot bigger. It’s like placing a picture frame around the outdoors."

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