Instant gratification
HOW do you make an imposing new house sit easily in its setting, not to mention look comfortable in the landscape? This was the key question for the designer Libby Russell, when she and Emma Mazzullo of Mazullo + Russell took on this project in the Home Counties in 2017.
Builders were still working on the house itself, so the team initially focused on the boundaries. The plot is shaped like a slightly squashed bell, with neighbouring gardens on either side and a long border with the road at its base. The view, which is considerable, extends beyond the crown of the bell as the garden opens out into the landscape.
The previous house had been knocked down to make way for the new one, but many trees and shrubs from, as well as several red varieties. This was all good news as, ‘the client wanted trees, the whammy of the rhododendrons and colour’. Privacy was also important.
