House and Garden
May 2025House & Garden unlocks the door to an array of unique homes and outdoor features, ranging from town houses and converted barns to fabulous modern apartments and island retreats. Outdoor features are equally varied, including cottage gardens, water gardens and chic, city courtyards. House & Garden provides an invaluable sourcebook of ideas, from design and decoration to the best of travel, delicious recipes and fine wine. Britain’s most glamorous, inspiring and influential design and decoration magazine.
Contributors
ROBERT MYERS / GARDEN DESIGNER Drawing on his knowledge of history, culture and the natural world, Robert creates diverse yet timeless garden schemes – from small urban projects to rural estates. His many awards include seven gold medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and the Society of Garden Designers’ Grand Award in 2017 for the Magic Garden at Hampton Court Palace. He studied Geography at the University of Cambridge, where he developed an appreciation of global landscapes. ‘We have a vital role in shaping the future of green spaces,’ he says. From page 164, he discusses his design for a churchyard in London with climate-resilient species. What is your design approach? ‘A mix of problem solving, creativity and a little magic. I’m interested in the relationship between nature and…
FROM THE EDITOR
You’ll have noticed that, for this May issue, we have broken with tradition and chosen to feature a garden on our cover. But, of course, it’s no ordinary garden. ‘When the designers Julian and Isabel Bannerman move house, the world waits to see what they will do to the garden,’ writes our garden editor Clare Foster. And this one, featured from page 156, is their latest gloriously abundant creation in Somerset. ‘Most of us dream of making a garden, but very few of us actually dig it out, one turf at a time, with our own hands,’ notes Caroline Beck in her feature on Little Sparta, the extraordinary Scottish garden created by the artist and poet Ian Hamilton Finlay (from page 166). Having moved to Ashington Manor in 2019, the…
DECORATE
Notebook RUTH SLEIGHTHOLME shows us what has caught her eye this month…
Beauty and the bees
All fabric and trim prices are per metre. For suppliers’ details, see Stockists page…
RURAL RENOVATIONS
Designers Philip Hughes Associates, Edward Hurst & Annabel Elliot | Original purpose Stable block | Current purpose Accommodation for visitors In the grounds of St Giles House in Dorset, these 17th-century stables were imaginatively converted by the Earl and Countess of Shaftesbury and their team into accommodation for guests, which marries theatrics with architectural sensitivity. Although they were confined by the building’s Grade II* listing (and undertook extensive research into its history), creatively they were freed by the fact that there were no expectations of what the decoration should be – unlike in the main house. The stables’ original partitions and panelling have been retained to create idiosyncratic features in the ground-floor bedrooms, which are linked by a rich, earthy palette of browns and greens. Here, a bathroom has been…
Outdoor living
POOLSIDE FURNITURE Molteni&C Known for its stylish contemporary pieces, as well as its partnerships with renowned designers, this brand represents a modern Italian aesthetic. The teak chaises longues seen here offer a chic yet relaxed addition to a poolside area. Made in the company’s workshop in Brianza, northern Italy, they were designed by Gio Ponti in 1952 and are a rare example of his outdoor furniture. They cost from £6,600 each, including waterproof cushions. molteni.it McKinnon and Harris To explore its full range of outdoor aluminium furniture and textiles, head to McKinnon and Harris’s showroom in Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, SW10. Pictured above, from left, are the ‘DuVal Yacht Sun Chaise’ (£10,240) and ‘Beaufort Sun Chaise’ (£13,180). mckinnonharris.com Sutherland ‘Drift Chaises’ by this outdoor furniture specialist have 23cm-deep cushions and…
