Victoria and Anthony Mitchell have created a modern garden for OUTSIDE LIVING around their self-build home in West Yorkshire
Neon Sign, sculptneonsigns.co.uk
BEFORE
The phrase ‘blank canvas’ is often applied to bare unloved gardens but when it came to Victoria and Anthony Mitchell’s plot, there couldn’t have been a more apt description. “It was basically a sea of mud!” Victoria smiles, recalling two years ago when their self-build house was finally finished. “Back then, it was best not to look outside! There were so many different levels and slopes that it was hard to decide what on earth we were going to do with the space.” And with 186m2of garden, along with sometimes-tricky clay soil, the last thing the couple wanted was a high-maintenance plot that left them with little time to sit and enjoy it.
The house sits fairly centrally in the space, with the U-shaped garden split into two rectangular shapes at each side, plus an oblong at the back. “We had no idea how to connect the three different areas,” Victoria admits.
But this concern turned out to be the garden’s greatest strength. Now the three areas offer distinct functions, yet they’re cleverly connected by a style that flows throughout. With each side accessible from different parts of the house, and with visibility mostly contained, it’s almost like there are three gardens. “There’s a different atmosphere on each side, and we use each one differently,” Victoria explains. “It’s actually really nice not being able to see every part of the garden at once.”
SKETCHING A PLAN
Transforming those mud-strewn sides to the low-maintenance multi-functional zones they are today was a labour of love for Victoria and her construction boss husband Anthony. Having already completed one self-build, they took ownership of their new land in 2019, then completed the build and moved in a year later.
House ready, Victoria embarked on the garden design, a process that involved sketching a basic layout on three sheets of paper, each representing a plot section. “We knew we wanted an area for sunbathing and barbecuing, one for dining, and another for relaxing on sofas,” she says. “The different levels and the way the sun fell determined each side’s purpose, so those were fairly easy decisions. And the modern look of the house set the tone.”
Sleek, streamlined and whitewashed, the newbuild lent itself to a simple Mediterranean-style garden. It was a look Victoria was naturally drawn to, having spent summers admiring continental plots. “We rented a property in France that had a beautiful pared-back garden with lots of easy-upkeep gravel, and minimal plants,”
