‘We Made It More Practical For Family Life'

Anne and Nick Osborne got rid of a working fountain and 6ft-wide shrubberies to create a safe space for playing and eating outdoors

View from the house

The kitchen doors at the rear look down towards the property’s annexe at the end of the garden. A permanent space for dining and relaxing takes centre stage, with the adjoining kids’ play area screened off by olive trees: ‘We didn’t want a climbing frame or trampoline stuck in the middle of the lawn,’ says Nick.

When Anne and Nick first saw this property, they thought the formal rear garden was breathtaking, but utterly unsuitable for their young family. ‘It had a big fountain in the middle of box hedges and 6ft wide beds,’ says Nick. The couple flattened the entire plot to give their three children somewhere to play, and got on with renovating and extending the house.