Limestone Terrace

A generous south-facing terrace in honed limestone, laid as the new outdoor heart of an established Suffolk country garden.

The brief from the owners was simple: a sun-trap, big enough to entertain on, that would feel as though it had always been part of the house. The existing garden was already beautiful — clipped buxus balls, mature borders, a wide lawn rolling away to the trees — and the terrace had to slot into that setting without competing with it.

We chose a French-quarried limestone in a calm sand tone, laid in long random courses with tight joints to give the stone the chance to read as the dominant material. Wide bullnose steps step down gently to the lawn — three of them, just shallow enough to walk down with a tray and a glass of wine in hand.

The terrace itself is large but never lonely, because the planted borders come right up to the stone and the existing topiary frames the edges. It's the kind of detail that takes time to plan and patience to lay — and it's exactly the kind of work we most enjoy.