Red Court

Modern craftsmanship and design blend with the tradition of an English Manor garden. This private, inner city green estate seamlessly merges a series of ‘garden poems’ from expansive open lawns to intimate meditative spaces; naturalistic planting and woodland field gardens influenced by Ian Hamilton-Finlay’s ‘Little Sparta’, through to a relaxed interpretation of Vita Sackville West’s ‘White Garden’ at Sissinghurst.

Generous Cedar canopies offer ambience and seasonal shade, while Phoenix roebelenii artfully frame the formal stairway linking an expansive (former asphalt tennis court) croquet lawn and entertaining terrace with the home. Thuja occidentalis provides subtle boundaries that choreograph a heighted sense of anticipation on secret garden walks of newly planted woodlands. Elegant planting of Rhododendron, Azalea, Bougainvillea and Oak-Leaf Hydrangea delight the senses with colour and fragrance, and the sinuous gravel drive with detailed bluestone edging, sweeps toward the house ensuring a formal sense of arrival before opening to an all season courtyard linking the Coach House and the c1888 Mansion.

In a 3-year collaboration with the owner renowned for resurrecting iconic buildings with rich history and character, the brief was to ensure each outdoor space paired seamlessly with the overall language and individual dialects of each elegant and artistic indoor room.

Client
Private Client

Size
0.9 acre residential garden

Green Landscape
Concept to installation 2009-2012

Architect/Designers
Various ~ Client collaboration with international artists, designers, stylists and architects.

Photography
Martina Gemmola (2 years post installation ~ High Summer)