Aspirational New England

A contemporary garden design in Godstone, Surrey, where house and landscape were designed as one, creating a calm woodland garden around a modern family home.

Godstone Garden Design – A Contemporary Home Set Within a Woodland Landscape

This garden design project in Godstone, Surrey formed part of a complete refurbishment of a 1960s bungalow, transforming it into a contemporary family home set within a rich, planted landscape. From the outset, the house and garden were designed as one integrated scheme, ensuring a seamless relationship between architecture, planting, and outdoor living.

With the house positioned centrally within the plot, the key challenge was to combine the clean lines and functionality of modern family living with a garden that felt natural, generous, and established. Rather than the building dominating the site, the aim was for the house to appear as though it nestles within the planting, surrounded by greenery that softens and grounds it within its setting.

Sweeping lawns create openness and long views across the garden, while deep, generously planted borders wrap around the house, blurring the boundaries between garden and surrounding woodland. The planting palette draws heavily on woodland perennials, shrubs, and structural planting, carefully selected to suit the site conditions and provide year-round interest with minimal maintenance.

A network of crunchy gravel paths meanders through the garden, guiding movement and encouraging exploration. These routes pass beneath oak pergolas clothed with roses and clematis, offering moments of shade, scent, and seasonal change. Along the way, subtle focal points are revealed gradually, adding depth and a sense of quiet discovery.

The finished garden feels calm, immersive, and timeless, a contemporary Surrey garden that supports modern family life while remaining deeply connected to nature, planting, and place.