Page 112 - Country Homes & Interiors (August 2019)
P. 112
Haddon Lake House, a
contemporary Japanese-
influenced ‘boat house’ with
decks over a lake, uniting
architecture with landscape
iewing this tranquil landscape as the sun sets, it is
impossible to envisage anything other than a garden
vibrant with plants, woodland echoing with birdsong,
V and untroubled reflections upon the clear waters
of the lake. But when Phillippa and Steve Lambert first visited in
2001, they describe a scene that is unrecognisable today: ‘It was
complete dereliction.’ The once-magnificent 19th-century gardens
were consumed by a tangle of undergrowth, rubbish was strewn
throughout, and the lake was clouded and silted up. ‘Yet, somehow,
the garden still retained a beguiling grandeur,’ they recall. ‘We
recognised we could make a difference to a lost historic landscape.’
Phillippa and Steve have fully realised that potential through
At home with... carefully crafted design, while always keeping in sympathy with
a historic site. The garden is now one of many design themes
interacting within a relatively small space. ‘But there is always just
Owners Phillippa Lambert, a
landscape designer, and husband enough area for the transitions not to seem forced or incongruous
Steve, an architectural illustrator. – the original design of the site dictated this,’ Phillippa points out.
House A contemporary Having lived and gardened on the Isle of Wight on and off for
self-build in an historic setting in 50 years, the couple were very aware of local conditions and the
St Lawrence on the Isle of Wight. favourable microclimate. The garden is located on the wooded
Features A two-acre, 19th- slopes of Undercliff, a narrow tract of land that skirts the island’s
century garden incorporating a southern coastline. The name ‘Undercliff’ derives from an
third-of-an-acre lake edged in
woodland paths. A Japanese-style escarpment that backs this sheltered area. ‘It makes our garden
courtyard leads to a walled kitchen warmer than elsewhere on the island,’ explains Phillippa.
garden with a period greenhouse. This nurturing environment is ideal for an array of exotic plants
that fill the semi-tropical borders around the house – Paulownia
tomentosa, hardy bananas, salvias and ginger lilies. ‘We take
cuttings where possible, and wrap up specimens that are too large
to move,’ she says. Occasionally temperatures drop below zero >
112 COUnTrY HOmeS & InTerIOrS
