terraced garden
county louth, '08

The addition of a new garage building divided this 3 acre coastal site and created the need to revisit the layout of the garden.

The new building is on 2 levels, while the main house sits at a distance and at a mid level in relation to it. Our brief was to link the house to the new building and provide access down a level to it's ground floor, and up to the new terrace. A long paved path links the two buildings, and a new staircase runs up the top patio, flanked by 3 lawned terraces.

Closer to the house, the first terrace is a more formal area, marked by clipped bay and box squares, and leading on to a large pergola, which in turn leads to the deck and pool area at the shady side of the house.

The sunken fire patio on the highest level, and, leading off the new building, has its own ‘mood’. The fire-pit was designed with evening use in mind.

Jura limestone paving gives a pink hush to the extensive paved area, while the logs and quartz lining the boxed walls suggest the dry stone walls and log piles of the rural setting. The planting is deliberately dry here– a diagonal pattern of dwarf pine and spruce, lavander and rosemary.

Contractor: Outdoor Life
Planting: Town & Country Gardens
Lighting: Outdoor Lighting Perspectives