Garden designer Dan Pearson has created a truly unique outdoor space at his home, Hillside, outside the city of Bath. The old stone farm cottage sits on a southwest-facing slope, overlooking a beautiful valley with rolling hills, woodlands, and patchwork green fields.
The garden, which has evolved since 2010, is full of joy, color, and movement, with a strong connection to the natural world. Dan Pearson was inspired by his work with Priscilla and Antonio Carluccio at their idyllic cottage in Hampshire, where growing, foraging, and cooking were a way of life.
The garden stretches out on either side of the house, gently spilling and tumbling its way down to a winding stream at the bottom. The couple has created a beautiful outdoor kitchen and eating area, nestled up against the side of the house, with a corrugated roof and a large northeast-facing window.
It is abundant with food, mostly grown from seed, with varieties collected from friends or trialed from catalogues. There are rows of salads, chicories, kales, chards, courgettes, and beans, as well as an orchard with apples, pears, plums, and other fruit trees.
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A path winds its way down through a field to a polytunnel, where tender tomatoes, peppers, and aubergines take shelter. The garden is a hub of daily life, with a simple black cast-iron gas hob, shallow ceramic sinks, and a wood-fired bread oven.
Huw Morgan, Dan Pearson‘s partner, and his love of cooking and eating outside as a young boy with his aunt in Wales have influenced their life at Hillside. Back then, as now, one of the great joys of visiting the pair was Huw‘s cooking.
Food is an important part of the garden, with its growing, preparation, and consumption. The dishes are a celebration of the garden’s bounty.
The garden has become a way of life for Dan Pearson and Huw Morgan, with its rhythms and routines shaping their daily lives.
