Beyond Borders

Taking cues from its European counterparts, this garden in Sydney’s Hunters Hill radiates a sense of calm, order and understated majesty

- Alice Griffin

Design is one of the simplest ways to showcase our likes and interests, to tell our stories. Time and again we’ve seen Australians utilising garden design as a tool to connect with and reflect on their European sensibilities. Grand Grecian residences (complete with mighty columns, elaborate water features and statues of naked angels) that sit proudly among stark country fields are probably at the more extreme end of the European-inspired gardens cropping up down under. Creating gardens that quietly nod to the properties one might find in London or Paris or Athens, but aren’t alienated from their Australian context, is far trickier.

This was the dilemma facing the owners of a Hunters Hill residence in Sydney’s north-west. With the help of landscape firm Goodmanors Pool + Garden, the project successfully walked the tightrope between old and new, European and Australian. The result is a garden that’s fit for modern needs at the same time as it caters to grand, old-world tastes.

The clients, a budding young family, had a few things in mind when they approached Goodmanors to design and construct the historic property’s new garden. Top of the list was to create a liveable outdoor space for everyone to enjoy. “The brief was very much focused on family; having space for the dog and children to play was important,” says design manager Mitchell Turner. “We sought to create a natural flow from inside to out, taking care to respect the heritage architecture of the property.”