STEPS TO SUCCESS

Enclosed within a rustic barn conversion, this courtyard garden contrasts riotous Mediterranean-inspired gravel planting with clean lines and a reflective pool

- KATE JACOBS

The brief 

The owners of this Cotswold property had recently retired and downsized from their 18th-century dower house by converting their former barn and other outbuildings into a new home. The house is arranged around a 16m x 12m courtyard, originally a rectangle of scruffy turf, with a central sunken gravel area. "The clients were pretty open in their brief," says landscape and garden designer Angus Thompson. "They just wanted a more elegant version of what they had; something that had to look after itself. For me though, this lovely, closed, southwest-facing courtyard lent itself to other, more exciting treatments."

The design

Angus sees this as a garden of three parts: a lawn quadrangle bounded by a perennial walk; a west-facing 'gin terrace' that captures the evening light; and a courtyard garden. "The first two are calmer areas, serving as counterpoints to the more riotous courtyard," says Angus. His driving idea was that the owners should be able to interact easily with the garden, using it as an alternative route between their bedroom and the kitchen-dining-living area, which are on opposite sides of the courtyard. From this arose the concept of stepping stones, with a row of generously sized buff stone pavers traversing the heart of this multi-level garden, "appearing to float, as if on water. In fact, they pass among waves of dynamic, Mediterranean-inspired dry garden planting, which suits the courtyard's warm microclimate," says Angus.

Running parallel to the path, a rectilinear and gently burbling pool offers a tranquil, reflective contrast to the planting. Angus raised the terraces that wrap around the house to match the internal floor height, allowing seamless flow between inside and out, while the existing site level changes, of around 800mm, were embraced and help to define different zones within the garden.