2019-08-01_Country_Homes_&_Interiors.

At home with...

OwnersPhillippaLambert,a

landscapedesigner,andhusband

Steve,anarchitecturalillustrator.

HouseAcontemporary

self-buildinanhistoricsettingin

StLawrenceontheIsleofWight.

FeaturesA two-acre,19th-

centurygardenincorporatinga

third-of-an-acrelakeedgedin

woodlandpaths.A Japanese-style

courtyardleadstoa walledkitchen

garden with a period greenhouse.

V

iewingthistranquillandscapeasthesunsets,it is

impossibletoenvisageanythingotherthana garden

vibrantwithplants,woodlandechoingwithbirdsong,

anduntroubledreflectionsupontheclearwaters

ofthelake.ButwhenPhillippaandSteveLambertfirstvisitedin

2001,theydescribea scenethatis unrecognisabletoday:‘Itwas

completedereliction.’Theonce-magnificent19th-centurygardens

wereconsumedbya tangleofundergrowth,rubbishwasstrewn

throughout,andthelakewascloudedandsiltedup.‘Yet,somehow,

thegardenstillretaineda beguilinggrandeur,’theyrecall.‘We

recognisedwecouldmakea differencetoa losthistoriclandscape.’

PhillippaandStevehavefullyrealisedthatpotentialthrough

carefullycrafteddesign,whilealwayskeepinginsympathywith

a historicsite.Thegardenis nowoneofmanydesignthemes

interactingwithina relativelysmallspace.‘Butthereis alwaysjust

enoughareaforthetransitionsnottoseemforcedorincongruous

• theoriginaldesignofthesitedictatedthis,’Phillippapointsout.
  HavinglivedandgardenedontheIsleofWightonandofffor
  50 years,thecouplewereveryawareoflocalconditionsandthe
  favourablemicroclimate.Thegardenis locatedonthewooded
  slopesofUndercliff,a narrowtractoflandthatskirtstheisland’s
  southerncoastline.Thename‘Undercliff’derivesfroman
  escarpmentthatbacksthisshelteredarea.‘Itmakesourgarden
  warmerthanelsewhereontheisland,’explainsPhillippa.
  Thisnurturingenvironmentis idealforanarrayofexoticplants
  thatfillthesemi-tropicalbordersaroundthehouse–Paulownia
  tomentosa,hardybananas,salviasandgingerlilies.‘Wetake
  cuttingswherepossible,andwrapupspecimensthataretoolarge
  to move,’ she says. Occasionally temperatures drop below zero >

HaddonLakeHouse,a
contemporaryJapanese-
influenced‘boathouse’with
decksovera lake,uniting
architecture with landscape