Breedwell House, Cuckfield, East Sussex
‘Look deep into nature,’ writes Albert Einstein, ‘and you will understand everything better.’
If the garden is understood as a kind of living telescope for looking deep into the nature Einstein speaks of, then Breedwell House has been a most excellent education for its owner, who’s brief to us was the creation of a family garden that would serve as ideal complement to a brand-new house. It would flow seamlessly, its lawn, terraces, children’s play area, and swimming pool providing family and friends with a space at once eminently programmable and deeply private. It’s planting – its wildflower meadow, fruiting trees, deep flower beds, edible plants, nuts, and berries – softening the house and other areas of hard landscaping.
All of which has come to pass, despite a clay soil and an extremely wet summer, both of which conspired to ruin best laid plans. What the client did not bargain for, however, was the effect the finished article would gradually have on him, the garden’s seasonal cycle, continued maturation, and biodiversity a personal revelation. He has seen into nature and there is no looking back.
"I thought we were turning the garden into something functional, a place for the family to enjoy being outside, in private. What we have is that and so much more. Watching and being in nature, feeling it turn through the year, the way it expresses itself. It’s a gift."
Adam Breedwell