LIVING IN HARMONY

A brand-new house with a century-old garden? At this Perthshire home, they're made for each other

- Miriam Methuen-Jones

It all began with the garden.

This glorious family home stands on the ashes of a grand Victorian mansion, destroyed by a fire more 70 years ago. All that was left behind was an established garden created in the 1900s by Thomas Hayton Mawson, a prolific landscape designer of the Edwardian period. He had transformed the challenging Perthshire site into a series of garden spaces that included formal areas, burns and water features, woodland paths and an abundance of flowering beds. When the mansion fell to ruin, the garden looked set to be abandoned as well, but no one could stand to see such a thing of beauty destroyed. Part of the purchase agreement for this site was that any new owner had to return the gardens to their original design. By extension, the interiors and architecture of this new build are heavily influenced by the magnificent grounds.

Cotswold-based design studio Sims Hilditch was brought in to take charge of the interiors. “The gardens influenced everything,” says senior designer Clemmie Collyer-Bristow. “That was always what we referred back to. We created a palette that allowed nature to be at the forefront, and ensured those fantastic views weren't obstructed. When you enter a room, it's the view that you're drawn to; the gardens become the artwork.”

The new owners are longstanding clients of Sims Hilditch, so it was easy to get on the same page quickly. “They're the kind of clients everyone wants - really friendly, and so relaxed,” Clemmie says. “Since they'd worked with us a lot, they really wanted it to be a collaborative project. He took the lead in the more formal areas, providing inspiration from lovely hotels and various different members' clubs.