Transforming a coastal wilderness into a family garden with breathtaking views of Salcombe Harbour

The new owners of Stoneleigh had bought a brand new contemporary home in an elevated position with one of the best vantage points in Salcombe. With breathtaking views out to sea, across to North Sands, Salcombe Harbour and beyond. Stoneleigh was built and lived in by a developer, but the garden was an unfinished wilderness, set on a steep hill it was a far cry from the family-friendly garden that our clients needed.

The garden was unpractical and overgrown with unfinished terraces that meant you couldn’t get to the patios below and large areas of the garden that were inaccessible.

Having bought Stoneleigh intending to spend time quality time by the coast with their young family, creating a safe and beautiful garden was a huge priority for them. They commissioned us to manage the design and landscaping of the garden and outside terraces and create a safe, family-friendly garden for children that was fabulous for entertaining.

We engaged the services of expert landscapers Proscape, who came in and transformed the inaccessible hillside wilderness into a stunning family-friendly garden. In such an elevated position, it was a big challenge for access for the contractors which meant they had to crane materials down using a sling.

Gone were the broken fences and inaccessible terraces. In came a giant concrete slab that formed the main terrace with a contemporary glass balustrade. They created steps in the wooded areas, pathways and repaired the old fence.

Our clients had a garden that was transformed in just under 3 months and doubled in usable space. As a result, they could walk to the beach at North Sands and enjoy their incredible view.

The full scope of works included: 

Supply of materials, plant and labour to build a new terrace area paved with slate
Additional gabion baskets for access onto the new terrace
Build 14 oak sleeper steps 1.2m wide, down to the level below for access to the soft area at the bottom of the garden
Bring in 30 tons of materials including 60m2 of paving, 6 tons of concrete, 10 tons of aggregate, sand and cement and 12 tons of gabion stone
Build a reinforced concrete ring beam on the front and sides of the area to be paved to accommodate balustrade
Removal of spoil when excavating steps to be spread elsewhere on site
Take down and remove existing hit and miss fence, supply and erect new fencing
Close board fencing on the garden border from the pavement to the back corner of the plot
Pedestrian gate to the lane and continue fence on the back border to meet the existing fence
Clear the informal areas of the garden of weeds, saplings, brambles etc