Iron-and-glass greenhouse of Pralormo Castle

Pralormo Castle, a square-plan fortress of the 13th century, has belonged since 1680 to the Beraudo di Pralormo family, who came from Barcelonnette with Giacomo Beraudo. Around 1830-1840 Count Carlo Beraudo di Pralormo, a diplomat and minister under King Charles Albert, became its sole owner, had the interior turned into a stately residence by the court architect Ernesto Melano, and called in the German landscape architect Xaver Kurten, who created the English-style park.

Towards the end of the century another Carlo, the minister's 'nipote' (the Italian word covers both nephew and grandson) and, according to the castle's website, grandfather of the present owner, had the Orangerie, the large farm building (Cascina) and the iron-and-glass greenhouse by the Lefebvre brothers of Paris built. The greenhouse allowed Countess Matilde to grow citrus, orchids and fashionable exotic varieties; the flower garden spreading in front of it goes back, in its original layout, to the late 1800s, starting from a 16th-century rose garden. The greenhouse was renovated at the end of the 20th century by Officina dei Giardini.

Since the 1990s the owners have opened the estate to the public through temporary exhibitions. In 1999 Consolata Pralormo, after a trip to the Netherlands, conceived a large event devoted to the tulip: Messer Tulipano has been held in the park every April since 2000. The castle is still lived in by its owners, under the supervision of the Soprintendenza.

The greenhouse is an iron-and-glass construction, the work of the Lefebvre brothers of Paris (also spelled 'Lefevre'). The castle's website describes it as set against the thick brick walls of the castle, on the south side in full sun, at the heart of an area separate from the English-style park, almost a 'secret garden'. This exposure made it possible to grow citrus and orchids despite Piedmont's winters; in spring, the heat stored by the thick brick wall brings early flowering along the greenhouse. Inside, a growing bench runs in front of the glazing, where a succulent collection spends the whole summer. Photographs taken in 2014 and published on Wikimedia Commons show a sloping glazed roof, glazed walls and benches loaded with pots.

The greenhouse looks onto the flower garden and the secluded part of the park. It is distinct from the neighbouring Orangerie, an old citrus house in the same group of outbuildings. The greenhouse was renovated at the end of the 20th century.

According to the castle's website, the greenhouse served Countess Matilde to grow citrus, orchids and other exotic varieties highly fashionable at the end of the 19th century. In October and March it turns into a true winter garden, coloured with fragrant citrus, small fruit plants and orchids. In summer, on the bench in front of the glazing, a collection of succulents offers rare blooms.

In spring the Messer Tulipano displays extend into the greenhouse and the Orangerie, according to Wikipedia; the event's Facebook page mentions 'elegant orchids in the greenhouse'. Outside, the park designed by Kurten receives a new planting plan every year: more than 130,000 tulips in 2026 according to the castle's website (75,000 tulips and daffodils according to Italian Botanical Heritage).

The greenhouse stands on the south side of the castle, at the edge of the flower garden. The official site states that the park can be visited only in April, during Messer Tulipano (28 March to 26 April in 2026): this is when the greenhouse is shown, with its orchids. The rest of the year the castle, a private home lived in by its owners, is visited with a guide, on Sundays in September and October in 2026 according to the official site (and from May to October, except August, according to the Grandi Giardini Italiani circuit). The Orangerie and the large farm building, part of the estate, can be combined with it.