Ile de Re, France
Private garden
This project involved the amalgamation of two properties, one with an established house and garden the other a derelict site adjacent. A new house was built on the derelict half of the property and a garden designed to establish one coherent property, with semi private parts to the garden that relate to each dwelling. Central to the main garden shared by both houses is a pool around which were planted semi mature Fig and Olive trees, adding to the few existing. The space is enclosed by buildings on one side with a staggered line of mature stone pines on the other sides. Timber paths connect the houses and the pool through expansive beds of drought tolerant perennial planting.
The property is located on the foreshore of Ile de Re, an island on the Atlantic Coast of France, connected by bridge to the mainland town of La Rochelle. Despite being a popular holiday destination for wealthy Parisians the island has maintained a low key and very local style. We sought to maintain a beach house look and feel to the property using timber decking as the only built material. A large open area separates the houses from the beach. We removed a lot of the former garden elements here to keep the seaside garden as simply lawn with the native pine trees, Pinus pinea and Pinus pinaster. Local wild flowers have been sown into the lawn to give a rougher and more flowery effect than a mown turf.
The garden was designed by Tom Stuart-Smith Ltd while Andy worked with the practice, Andy's role was the lead landscape architect.