Westminster Stone Company

Parme Garden Design

Completed: 04/08/2022
Location: Cheshire
Budget: £30,000.00

Our customer and talented garden designer Clare McEnery from Parmé Garden Design has kindly shared one of her recent projects with us - An exploration in Porcelain Tiles using our Cheltenham Sand Porcelain Paving. The more contemporary patio was used to complement a traditional Cheshire brick home. Creating a beautiful outdoor living space that's perfect for entertaining while meeting the needs of the whole family.

 
What was the Brief for this Garden Design?
 
The rear garden in this lovely country village property was large with a patio, a lawn, a small existing barn that had been converted into a studio and a garage base from a demolished garage and workshop. The Cheshire property is in Greenbelt and had already had extensive renovation work on the interiors. The clients wanted to make the garden a proper entertaining space with a re-imagined patio, a ‘party barn’ with an outdoor WC, a water feature and an arctic cabin (for the winter). The couple had 2 teenage sons and a dog to accommodate.

The barn had to be fitted into a specific space which threw up lots of angles! It had to take into account an existing protected wall and fit in between the new garage (also designed by me) and the small existing barn which was very old and not in line with anything! The pitch of the barn roof also had to not be visible from the road due to planning restrictions. 

How did you design the garden?

The design took the existing patio and completely opened up the width by designing very wide terraced steps and making the currently rather cramped patio (for the size of the house and the size of the garden) much more spacious and open. Paths were installed for access and to link the garden together, all softened with planting. We reused as much of the existing Cheshire sandstone as possible and created a large raised bed in advance of planting that would soften the dominating wall of the garage – I wanted to embrace it as an opportunity rather than a problem. The sandstone was used for other beds as well. An outside oak supplier was very helpful in helping me with the barn design and making sure the finished look was in keeping with the setting. The client went back and to as to whether they would have glass or not in between the arches. In the end they went without. A bar and fireplace were also set to be installed and were designed in.

The planting was again to be in keeping with the country village setting and to marry well with an already established border. I included white hydrangeas, summer perennials and 3 beautiful multi-stemmed Amelanchiers to provide height structure and year-round interest. The planting was anchored with large topiary box balls and box hedging for a year-round green structure. 3 pleached Japanese Ligustrum provided structure and dissipated the height of the garage by softening the wall. I also enhanced some of the existing planting, particularly by the Arctic Cabin. Sympathetic lighting throughout including in the water provided another dimension and extended the use of the garden into the evening and improved the view from the house. 

What Westminster Stone Porcelain Tiles did you use?
 
I offered different ideas for paving to the client  - all porcelain as they were keen for it to be low maintenance and to stand the test of time. They went for Cheltenham Sand because of its grey tones and mottled appearance which they felt worked well with the old Cheshire Brick, wouldn’t show the dirt and gave a classic but contemporary look to the scheme. We had bullnose finishes made for the steps to add some clean neat detail. These overhangs were underlit at night.

 
What was your experience of working with Westminster Stone? 
 
Once they had chosen the sand product they arranged to meet with Nigel and settled on Cheltenham. I think the clients’ experience with Nigel was very good. The product itself is great and looks like it will wear well. I wanted to use 9x6 but the clients went with 6x6. I would say that it looks a lot better in real life than on the website and I am glad that I have been able to use it as would use it again now I’ve seen it down. The paving has great neutral properties and looks more ‘natural’ than some shiny new porcelain tiles.

 

Grade I Listed Buckden Towers

Completed: 04/07/2022
Location: Cambridgeshire
Budget: £20,000.00

The site of Buckden Towers boasts a long and rich history spanning over 900 years!  Home to the Claretian Missionaries - the current owners of the complex. The site operates as the location of the Catholic Parish Church in Buckden, and as a residential centre for religious studies. It is consequently an active and occupied place of religious worship and study. The Friends of Buckden Towerssupport the owners in the conservation of the historic buildings and gardens and have recently completed a project to construct a paved footpath through an ornamental garden (the Knot Garden), which is otherwise surfaced in its pedestrian areas in loose gravel. The object was to improve accessibility for users of wheelchairs and pushchairs in order to enable a wider enjoyment of the garden. Our Petworth paving was chosen for this historic site development.

The Knot Garden
The walled Garden below the Great Tower is a replica Knot garden, typical of a Tudor manor house and started in 1992. The main features of the garden are four square beds of Knots around a central fountain, which is covered in winter by a mosaic with a pomegranate design, together with two smaller Knots in front of the raised stone terrace. Friends of Buckden Towers wanted to make this area accessible for wheelchairs by adding paving to create a stable footpath.

The object of the paving was to provide a wheelchair-accessible path through the Knot Garden, where existing footpaths were gravel and difficult for wheelchair access.

Friends of Buckden Towers

The Long Barn

Completed: 08/05/2021
Location: Caefallen
Budget: £10,000.00

The brief for this total re-build of a 16th century listed farm building was to create a home and garden that was in keeping with the historic site and building whilst making the most of the amazing views and South West facing location.

We worked with Lucy Hunter, Garden Designer, to design a garden space to complement the stunning barn wall rebuilt with original stone and lime mortar. We wanted a large terrace area for dining and relaxing, bordered by herb beds. Lawn with wildflower areas, traditional crab apple trees and the re-use of slate and stone steps from the original barn."

"We were recommended Westminster Stone by Lucy as they do a wide range and are fairly local. Initially we considered “Henslate” reproduced from Welsh slate or “Petworth” from the National Trust collection. Both very nice but not quite the look we wanted. It was invaluable to visit Westminster Stone as they had numerous in-situ displays of their products enabling us to see how the stone looked and weathered.

Discussing our needs with the staff we were able to select the beautiful hand cut Honey Cathedral limestone. We are thrilled with it as it blends beautifully with its surroundings and having been down a few years now it just gets better and better. It also came in slightly under our budget so great value for money."

Paul Wheeler

Completed: 26/09/2017
Location: Shropshire

This beautiful stone farmhouse in the Shropshire hills required a terrace which would stand the test of time (and the weather!). The owners wanted paving that would be sympathetic to the style of their home and complement the stunning natural environment. We chose Hidcote Flagstones from the National Trust Cotswold Manor range as it's warm buff and cream tones have a natural character and texture which perfectly contrasts with the house. www.westminsterstone.com

Ability Garden Company

Completed: 26/09/2017
Location: Pooley Bridge, Lake District

The famous Pooley Bridge Inn in the Lake District was completely refurbished and required a fresh new exterior. The brief was to provide better path access to the front door and from the car park and the creation of an inviting seating environment to sit and enjoy a pint or two. We suggested Petworth Flagstones

Claudia de Jong

Completed: 21/09/2017
Location: Burford, Cotswolds

Cottage gardens completely re-landscaped to create different terraced levels using Petworth Flagstones from the National Trust Country House range.