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If you have the undecomposed luck to stumble upon an ancient island paradise — albeit a wildly overgrown , clumsily renovate , and functionally outdated Shangri-la — often the challenge is how to address the property ’s shortage without veil its appeal .
Such was the shell in 2004 when catamount and internal designer Lucien Rees Roberts and his partner , designer Steven Harris , buy this chemical compound located on a diminished Croatian island about an hour ’s ferry drive from the larboard city of Dubrovnik . The dimension ’s four buildings clustered together at the top of a small hill and dated back to the 15th one C , in the beginning serving as a merchant ’s rest home , nunnery , barn , and chapel service . By sidereal day , the spot offers wholesale views of the Adriatic Sea and craggy coastline ; by dark , a swath of scintillate lights from nearby island and ship pierce the black sky .
The outdoor dining area , where the couple spends much of their prison term , is surrounded by a similarly subdued palette made up of rosemary , lavender , and genus Santolina . Photo by : Scott Frances . SEE MORE photo OF THIS GARDEN
Architecturally , the building were simple but substantial . They had wall almost 2 feet thick , craft from a dense local limestone , but in the independent planetary house there was only one doorway and one window on the priming floor , giving it a cavelike feel and obscuring the brilliant Mediterranean luminosity . Changes made by the previous owner included wood paneling and concrete interior stairs . Oh , and the plumbery had been ripped out . “ It needed body of work , ” Rees Roberts says .
The duet gutted the interior , leave only beam of light and joists . They colligate the outdoor kitchen to the balance of the theater and establish several windows on the first floor .
“ Whenever we create a raw opening , we had lintels made to match the one-time , ” Rees Roberts excuse . “ I copied the design from other buildings on the island that were close to the same point . ” Where possible , he left interior limestone surfaces exposed , and for the cap , he chose Tuscan terra cotta tile that had been sandblasted , giving them the patina of historic period .
In respect to the original materials ( and in service to the raw owners ’ desire for a retreat from their busy Manhattan - base life sentence ) , Rees Roberts kept the trappings understated , from the Dorothy Thorpe 1970s - epoch Lucite candleholders to the graceful midcentury armchair project by Jorge Zalszupin ( one of the founder of the L’Atelier pattern collective ) .
One of several terraces located throughout the garden . picture by : Scott Frances . SEE MORE pic OF THIS GARDEN
The chapel remains a chapel service , but the nunnery was win over into a guesthouse and the barn into Rees Roberts ’ painting studio apartment , both refinish with the unobtrusive advance employed in the main house . He replaced the barn ’s wooden doors with sliding glass panels , which he leaves open most of the clip so he can stare across step terraces out to the ocean . That connection from deep down to out marks one of the prop ’s greatest assets , as it has not only views that link its dweller to the external macrocosm but also a rich serial publication of terraces , court , and gardens that allow for socializing , quiet indication , and outside dining . “ In summer , ” he says , “ the exterior is really where one wants to pass time . ”
First , though , Rees Roberts had to make sentiency of the slightly savage background that wander in and around the buildings , and for that , he enlisted the assistance of his patronage partner , landscape architect David Kelly .
The house has no front door , so one first enters through the outdoor living spaces , granting an immediate sense of relaxation and enjoyment . The topography drops off quickly and steeply around the menage , which David Kelly says lends a smell of floating over the urine . Photo by : Scott Frances . SEE MORE photo OF THIS GARDEN
“ We began with space that already exist , ” Kelly explain , “ and those were the bones of the garden . But it was overgrown , and we had to do a lot of editing . We also wanted to defer to the aspect rather than compete with it . ” They chose a works pallette of silvers and pale William Green to poise the crisp and crystalline reflexion off the limestone and the water supply . When the plants move in the aristocratic breeze and the sunlight , Kelly says , the undulating sweeps of lavender , rosemary , and santolina are blurry and dreamlike . A small-scale , more formally lay out courtyard of eight orange tree trees with a reflecting pool at its center is the most ego - referential outdoor space , the consummate spot for reflexion and also , given its central location , for people to meet up before manoeuvre down to the sea for a swim . Kelly instal outdoor sustenance and dining areas on top of a large cement bench , covering it with crushed local limestone . To raise the relationship with the prop ’s surroundings , he bring a half - dozen pencil - thin cypress tree into the landscape , a nod to the surrounding grove of such trees farther down the hill .
While Kelly and Rees Roberts often work with clients outside of the United States , they find that go in such a remote , uncorrupted locus had its ploughshare of unexpected obstruction . There are no cars on the island that is home to only 140 people at the meridian of the summer time of year . Most of the materials came by the thrice - daily ferryboat from Dubrovnik , and they were put down on the dock and then hand - carried 156 pace up to the house . At one point , a domestic ass was commandeered to do some of the heavy lifting , but after haul up one bag of cementum , it ran off and repurposed itself as the island mascot .
The day the plants arrived turned out to be during Ramadan . All the workers Kelly had reckon on were move for the holiday , so Kelly and Rees Roberts beat to find other helpers from the local village and ended up doing a fortune of the schlepping themselves .
“ We also found it ourselves , ” Kelly says , “ which I do n’t typically do , and we really learned about the shape . ” The full-grown takeout food ? “ It ’s really rough , ” he says .
The planting took position in October , and when Rees Roberts , Kelly , and Harris came back early the next spring , they were surprised by a sea of red , perfectly dispersed throughout the ground . It seems the former owner had a fondness for amaryllis .
“ I thought this was supposed to be a silver garden , ” Harris said . Kelly was undaunted .
“ We swerve them all and had the most beautiful flush arrangements , ” he says . “ And then all the bulb were removed . But it was in force to see them because it confirmed our instincts that strong colors would only compete with the views from the household . ”
Growing ConditionsTHE clime : Proving you ca n’t keep a good climate down , barely a ten after the war ended in Croatia ( in 1995 ) , theNew York Timesdubbed the coastline - rich commonwealth the “ New Riviera . ” With its glistening cheerfulness , modest temperatures , and dramatic backdrops of intensely dreary seas and steep tidy sum , change of location - impertinent publication such asNational Geographichailed it as the stead to impose . But if you choose to put down ascendant , literally , as Lucien Rees Roberts and Steven Harris have , you ’ll need to be after around the dry heat of coastal Croatia ’s hardiness zona 9 summertime . This means being water - wise to with industrial plant selections and employ patience : Gardens are typically sluggish to establish in Mediterranean mood .
THE PLANTS : Drought and wind tolerance were the guiding characteristic for choose a plant pallet in the Croatian garden of Steven Harris and Lucien Rees Roberts .
photograph by : Monrovia
The tough evergreen plant shrub , Cistus x purpureus(orchid rock rose ) can handle sandy and rocky soils , strong wind , and salinity sprayer .
Various coinage of lemon , lime , and orange trees grow in the more saved areas of the property .
Photo by : Proven Winners .
Rosemary take the line with a plenteous herbal fragrance andCeanothus arboreus(feltleaf ceanothus or tree diagram lilac ) [ leave ] is a shrub with wonderful blue bloom and glum dark-green leaves .
The garden is also filled with redolent mounds ofSantolina chamaecyparissus , with its silvery - gray leafage and yellowish clitoris flowers . Many varieties of lavender add together to the fragrance and low - growing mounded appeal of the garden .
Lise Funderberg is an editor program - at - large for GARDEN DESIGN .
Sourcebook : Rees Roberts + Partners , the design studio of Lucien Rees Roberts and David Kelly , create glorious interiors and landscapes for clients across the globe ( 212/587 - 3371;reesroberts.com ) ; Rees Roberts and Kelly on a regular basis collaborate with Steve Harris ’s architecture firm . Steven Harris Architects(212/587 - 1108;stevenharrisarchitects.com ) .
