These clients love space! The problem was that the best, most sheltered part of the garden – and the area best connected to the house – didn’t look big enough for their taste. The lawn fell away into a small gully only a few metres from the house. I have always loved those tropical treehouse type designs which have decks, complete…
Read more
The brief for this project was to create a restful yet contemporary series of spaces around the house for relaxing and socialising. I was keen to ensure that this sat well within the rural scene and reflected where they were. There was limited flat space so the pool and lawn were built out into the paddock with…
Read more
This Olive farm in Martinborough, as yet without a house but with rapidly maturing olive groves and amenity plantings, is again an excellent example of how planning can help to create a semi-mature landscape to support a future house. The olives have been planted along the natural contours of this undulating site, and this lends…
Read more
This lovely old farmhouse is surrounded with mature woodlands, a sheltered home paddock and a grove of ancient pear trees. The design of the back courtyard opens up to this with wide, curving steps. This curve continues as hedging around the edge of the area to define the courtyard space yet retain views to the scene beyond. Originally…
Read more
The concept design for this property was completed prior to the new house being designed to allow the owners to begin planting the largely empty paddocks. Once the new house plan ? by Architect Gerald Parsonson ? was completed the landscape plan was able to be adjusted to fit. The house is a dramatic and…
Read more
A mere 15 years ago these clients bought this property as a bare undulating-to-steep paddock and set about transforming it into a place where they could eventually live and retire to. A house site was confirmed and a prefunctory driveway route drawn in by the engineer – straight from the gate to the house site…
Read more
The owners of this established garden had purchased a large empty paddock next door, and the challenge was to develop the new garden areas as a natural continuation of the existing garden. The driveway was rerouted to make full use of the new area and also to reduce the impact of the existing driveway which cutt off the…
Read more
This garden, owned by my parents and the first garden I ever designed, is an informal, rambling country garden in which I have learned a lot. The budget has always been tight but this has worked to our advantage in that the use of natural, low-cost, local materials gives an informal, handcrafted character to the place. The courtyards are…
Read more
