SET back from Harston High Street in Cambridgeshire, the front of Park House appears very much the gaultbrick and stone Victorian Gothic Revival building designed in 1854 by George Edmund Street, who was most famous for creating the Royal Courts of Justice. Inside, the house has been refurbished to give a light and bright interior, but retains the original detailing, so it is only as you approach the sizeable garden at the back that the striking contemporary kitchen extension is revealed.
When the current owners, David and Sharon Smith, first saw the property in 2017, plans had already been commissioned for the extension and for a terrace overlooking a bold new flower garden below. As it was, they were happy to inherit both the local architectural practice, Cowper Griffith, and the garden designer, Robert Myers, whose task it was to marry the extension and the Victorian house with the garden, a modern pool house and the orchard beyond.
In its heyday, Park House had been surrounded by parkland, stabling and out- buildings, but, over the decades, these have been sold off for residential development. The remaining land that forms the garden today reaches all the way to the treeline, giving a lovely rural feel that holds true to its history of continuous arable farming recorded from Domesday until the 20th century.
Esta historia es de la edición July 26, 2023 de Country Life UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición July 26, 2023 de Country Life UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
