Homes & Gardens September 2021

Putting this issue together has been a joy. We’ve indulged ourselves by seeking out heavenly hideaways in dream locations – from Lombardy to California. I urge you to find a quiet spot, pour yourself a long, cold drink and enjoy these outstanding homes and gardens – the secluded home just off Sunset Boulevard (p28) is my personal favourite. The wish-we-were-there theme continues as we draw inspiration from Provençal rooms (p64) and showcase gorgeous Gallic tablescapes worthy of La Colombe d’Or for at-home occasions (p38). There’s more, but let’s not neglect Blighty. Back home, the planting of our classic English garden on the Suffolk/Essex border (p102) is stunning and inspired us to create an expert guide to planning a cutting garden (p118). We get the inside scoop from the RHS Chelsea…

THE HERO PIECE As flexible working increases, so does the need for finding suitable furniture for a home office. Thankfully the Winch pivoting chair ticks both the comfort and design boxes, ideal if you don’t have space – or the desire – for an office chair on wheels. Winch pivoting armchair, £1,760, Roche Bobois. STUNNING DESIGN Maxi is the new sliding panel system designed by Giuseppe Bavuso for Rimadesio’s extensive door range. The bespoke glass and aluminium frames are available in a variety of colours and finishes, price on request. ARCHIVAL INSPIRATION For its 180th anniversary, French interior architecture firm Rinck has joined forces with Fromental to produce a hand-painted silk wallcovering design, The Classicist Sketchbook, featuring maquettes of wooden mouldings taken from Rinck’s interior projects. The collaboration celebrates the firm’s history as well as…

Tell us about yourself. We are a guest house, restaurant and 15-acre smallholding in the heart of East Devon, founded by Hugo Guest (chef) and Olive Guest (artist). Modelled on the Italian concept of an agriturismo, our restaurant celebrates local produce, with a regularly changing fixed seasonal menu. Our interiors are a celebration of colour and pattern, inspired by the beauty of our surroundings. Describe your Instagram account. A celebration of slow food, colour, pattern and natural beauty. It’s really a window into our guest house and a showcase of the things that matter most to us – the craft that goes into our food production, interiors and art we feel passionate about and, of course, the beautiful East Devon countryside. Which accounts would you recommend we follow? @thewildwoodmoth for seasonal stories…

I spent an evening last week cleaning, sharpening and tuning a woodworking plane that belonged to my great grandfather. He was a carpenter and builder, and had passed the plane, along with other tools, on to my grandfather, who I call Poppa. In a lump-in-throat afternoon in Poppa’s attic a decade ago, he bequeathed me his father’s tools. I use some of the shoulder planes regularly, but hadn’t made the time to restore the most tired looking tool in the collection – his Norris smoothing plane. Sadly, Poppa died recently and, having learned that most coffins are chipboard boxes, I wanted to make his coffin. I couldn’t have him returned to the earth in chipboard. Coincidentally, I have a commission for an engagement ring and a cot, completing the circle of life. As furniture…

THIS year, for the first time, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show will take place from 21 to 26 September. For his show garden, Tom Massey – supported by Sarah Mead, creative director at Yeo Valley Organic, along with Landscape Associates – has created a horticultural visual feast of organic gardening techniques and plant principles. Which plants have you chosen and why? The scheme has been adapted for September and now includes lots of late-season colour including echinacea, rudbeckia, aster and dahlia species – these will be offset with beautiful ornamental grasses [the garden plan is shown right]. The shrubs and trees remain the same, and species such as quince and medlar, which would have been in blossom in spring, will now be bearing fruit. We are also hoping for hints of autumn…

ORNAMENTAL GRASSES IN NEW COLOURS In the Great Pavilion, Ashcroft’s Perennials will display ornamental grasses in colours never seen before at Chelsea. Founder Chris Ashcroft told us that ‘the warm season grasses will be flowering and showing off a range of steely blues and deep crimson reds in the foliage, as well as pinks, golds and coppers in the flowers’. UNUSUAL HOUSEPLANT VARIETIES FROM ROCO At the RoCo houseplant stand ‘keep your eyes open for unusual patterned and rare plants like the monkey’s tail cactus, Cleistocactus colademononis, variegated caladiumand theDischidia ‘Pangolin Kisses’ succulent,’ says Caro Langton, co-founder of RoCo. THE GUIDE DOGS’ 90TH ANNIVERSARY GARDEN There will be wild planting and a tribute to people with sight loss in this garden designed by Adam Woolcott and Jonathan Smith. ‘It will be a refreshingly old-fashioned garden,…