Originally commissioned in 1890 as an orangery by the director of a shipping company, the structures at Zandpad 2c in Amsterdam have since served as homes and studios for artists.DSTRCT Real EstateJust moments away from the concentric rings of waterways that draw millions of visitors to Amsterdam each year, and on the edge of Vondelpark, where tourists and locals seek sanctuary among 120 acres of greenery, rose gardens, playgrounds and ponds, sits a 19th-century former orangery that feels like a botanist’s dream. Now it’s waiting for a buyer to turn it into a one-of-a-kind luxury residence. The property is moments from Amsterdam's Vondelpark—the city's favorite public green space—where its landmark Italian Renaissance-style Pavilion has held court since the late 19th century.ShutterstockHidden away on Zandpad, the narrow street that runs along the north side of the park, this soaring 322-square-meter (3,466-square-foot) house was commissioned in 1890 as an orangery by a wealthy shipping company director to shelter his rare and precious plants from biting winters. Designed in chalet style, the timber-framed building has ceiling heights of almost four meters and huge glazed elevations that provide those residing here—human or plant—with extraordinary natural light. Over 850 square meters of lushly planted gardens surround the home.DSTRCT Real EstateIn the mid 20th century, the municipality made the property available to artists, including the sculptor John Rädecker, who used it as his home and studio while he worked on the National Monument that has stood in Dam Square since 1956. Now lived in by Rädecker’s son, the property—which, beyond the five-bedroom, three-story main house, includes a separate one-bedroom garden studio—is for sale for the first time in its history. There’s a pared-back, mid-century feel to the interiors, with their wooden floors, large timber-framed windows and abundant plants. The green staircase that spirals through the main living space adds to the intrigue of this idiosyncratic property that is surely just sitting and waiting for a Victorian explorer to return home from his travels, armed with a Wardian case packed with exotic plants. The spiral staircase cuts through the main living space that's spread over three floors. Five bedrooms, three bathrooms. An additional one-bedroom garden house has its own kitchen and bathroom.DSTRCT Real EstateAs extraordinary as the house itself are the densely planted gardens that shield it from view: 850 square meters (over 9,100 square feet) of palms, banana plants and sculpted figures emerging from the undergrowth. “It’s a hidden pearl with a tropical vibe in the city center. It could be in Indonesia,” says Michiel van der Zijden at DSTRCT, the Amsterdam-based high-end real estate agency marketing the orangery house for €9 million (around US$10.3 million), placing it firmly in the top tier of the city’s trophy listings. “It’s a hidden pearl with a tropical vibe in the city center. It could be in Indonesia.”