We were invited to design a garden for a couple who were performing extensive renovations on an existing property. The renovations included extensions to the front and back of the house, to create the main view down the properties garden to the rolling views beyond. The client asked us to create a garden that would have symmetry, a sense of formality that matches the house, and for a sunken seating area to entertain, alongside a water feature.
We based the design for the garden around the views out, and also across the garden space to ensure that every stopping point around the garden has a ‘wow’ factor view to enjoy. We centered the design around a large water feature, that creates focal points from every downstairs room. The water starts in a pond outside of the lounge, flows through a rill that intersects the formal lawns outside of the kitchen, and falls into a lower pool that surrounds the sunken seating area. The water feature is surrounded by blocks of planting, paving, and bound gravel to create intimate and usable spaces.
The main dining area sits beneath a bespoke oak pergola, designed to reflect the oak beams used on the front of the house, and is created to take in the views down the garden. The sunken seating area, designed with a firepit to enjoy the later evenings, is sunken a few steps down to immerse garden visitors in the planting, while enjoying a different view across the central rill.
Two tiled walls sit at each end of the water feature, to create focal points to enjoy, and to guide the eye down the garden toward the views beyond.
