Glassgardens

The Glassgardens are a rather new part of Ildritz. A few decades ago, this was a rural area, where farmers had their exotic fruits and vegetables in glass houses. That is where the name of the quarter comes from. The gardens under glass have now disappeared, but the buildings are still there, and so is a certain rural atmosphere. That has to do with Glassgardens still being on the outskirts of town, too. Just behind the Glassgardens start the hills of De Erflanden, a maze of picturesque paths and country roads.

Glassgardens is full of leisure providing enterprises. From beer gardens, taverns, pubs and inns, of which the Tuijon Dreams Inn is the most (in)famous, to horse farms where horses for the hunt, including a full-sized hunting party with dogs and servants can be hired. In one of the backyards a duel arena gives place to any duel that has to be fought.
It is also the quarter of the artists and the modern, broad-of-mind youth. The poverty of the artists and the wealth of the youth are a rich contrast that inspires both sides. The youth hanging out here do copy some parts of the artists way of life and feel freed from the laws the upper class society puts on them.

The broad lanes and the narrow backyards along the main street, Hunters Drive (or Yageidrift) are a labyrinth of joy and culture. The glass houses with their old farms still form the backbone of the quarter, and are completed with experimental panoramas, galleries, and villas for modern housing. Most villas have splendid large gardens (often with a glass house in it, vintage or new build) and the inhabitants have their summer salons in the garden, or - if weather conditions are bad- in the glass house.
The new architecture here is inspired by the glass houses and is a play with steel, glass and wood. The villas are light and seem to be jewels in a box of green plants.
The poorer inhabitants of Glassgardens live in the abandoned farms or in the small worker dwellings that remained after the agriculture had left the place.

Glasshouse

One of the new glass houses in
Ildritz' Glassgardens quarter