How one designer transformed an unusually large London garden into her own little world
Urban locations are fascinating when it comes to gardens. Streets lined with houses give little away, but in the vibrant, artistic east London enclave of Walthamstow, there are hints of potential with period houses being given new life. And there’s certainly a sense of anticipation as you step into the Victorian, brick-faced house of garden designer Lulu Roper-Caldbeck and her artist husband Marcus James, with its taupe-coloured paintwork and immediate sense of calm. Yet when you walk through the house, the garden comes as a surprise, radiating a feeling of instant immersion and tranquillity.
‘We moved here in 2019 from Islington,’ says Lulu. ‘We wanted to stay in London but to find somewhere that felt private and quiet, away from city life, and that we could grow into. We are minutes from the main road and tube station, but this felt like a whole new lifestyle.’ At some point in the house’s history, the garden had been extended into the back gardens of two neighbouring properties, so what begins as a typical long and narrow plot opens out into a larger and more open space.
‘It was listed as the biggest garden in Walthamstow,’ says Lulu, with a smile, clearly delighted to have found 800 square metres of precious outdoor potential. Formerly working in fashion, including as product manager for women’s catwalk collections for Paul Smith, and then as co-owner of interiors brand Darkroom, Lulu decided to retrain in garden design at Capel Manor College as a way of combining her eye for detail with a desire to be outside. Having established her practice in 2019, she was itching to create her own garden. Such was its significance that it was this design that informed the styling of the house, inspiring the palette of materials and colours, rather than the more usual house-first approach.
From the kitchen, with its Victorian conservatory-style wooden doors and clay paver floor, you step out onto the terrace – where Lulu has used the same pavers to create a continuous flow between the house and garden – and are instantly engaged in a richly textured woodland-style scene. A boardwalk of yellow balau zigzags past a fulsome foliage-scape, which includes Pittosporum tobira, Pinus ω mugo, hellebores, persicarias and Hydrangea quercifolia. Light filters gently through two Prunus serrula with peeling, rich red bark, while the striking white trunks of five Betula utilis subsp. jacquemontii and a magnificent acer with deep maroon leaves are key mid-level focal points. These last two features were already in the garden and influenced some of Lulu’s design choices. ‘The angles of the boardwalk were worked out precisely to fit between these trees,’ she explains. ‘I always like to work with existing materials wherever possible.’
This initial woodland glade, backed by a large, black-stained, wooden cabin, would be a successful garden in itself. However, as the path continues, the space opens out. Large limestone slabs slow the pace, and a small seating area with a crisply rendered blockwork bench and outdoor cooking zone encourages you to linger. To the side of the cabin, a cedar wood pergola with a dining table below it has a view of a section of the garden previously hidden away. While the upper garden is beautifully considered and offers year-round interest, this further section hints at a wilder aesthetic.
A former lawn has become a space for Lulu to trial perennial planting combinations and colour palettes. This gives on to raised vegetable beds and espaliered fruit trees – a particular passion for Marcus, a keen cook, who plans each bed to provide produce throughout the year. Many of the plants in this part of the garden have been grown from seed or were left over from Lulu’s design projects. At the end of the garden is Marcus’s studio, which he built himself from corrugated cement board: reminiscent of rural agricultural buildings, it is set low to remain in keeping with the space.
As a personal project rather than a client commission, this has enabled Lulu to let ideas gradually evolve and to enjoy the process of tweaking. The next goal is to introduce some element of water, both for the family’s own pleasure and to encourage wildlife into the garden. As time and space allow, this leafy haven has indeed become a place of continuing connection and growth.
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