Whitcombe House, a lovely private garden in the Cotswolds, England I

The first private garden that we visited this year on our vacation in the Cotswolds in England was Whitcombe House and it was an immediate hit. Located in the beautiful village of Overbury, the garden is completely surrounded by a charming stone wall and therefore seems to be very protected. The size is supposed to be only an acre, but it felt much bigger to me. It contained a pleasing mix of roses, perennials and flowering shrubs carefully arranged in pleasing color combinations surrounding an equally beautiful house. One special feature of this garden was, that there is a small stream flowing directly through the property. The gentle bubbling sound of the water gave it such peaceful atmosphere.

This is the first view that you get when you enter the garden gate. A walkway leading up to the house in a straight line surrounded by charming borders on both sides. The plants are encroaching into the gravel path loosening up the strict symmetry and giving it a more informal cottagey look.

The green door framed with two stone columns and a triangular stone arch is very pretty and the climbing rose growing by its side so very English.

A little closer look at the rose.

And a close- up of the same rose. Love the pastel pink color.

I have a crush on stone urns and this big one was a particularly pretty example.

A bed kept in soft pastel colors in a somewhat shady corner of the garden.

A shot of the house from a different angle. Do you see the dog sitting in the window? Well, that is not a real dog. It is a cardboard dog. Quirky, isn’t it?

Looking down the pathway from the entrance of the house back in the direction of the garden gate. You see that there is a lot of symmetry in the design of this garden.

I loved this magenta colored rose, which I believe is ‘Charles de Mills’. The fragrance was pretty strong in this one. 

It was so nice to see these children innocently lost in their play.

Uuups, there is even a hidden third one.

Back to ‘Charles de Mills’. Isn’t this rose absolutely stunning?

I just couldn’t take my eyes (and camera!) off this rose bush.

There was another beautiful Old Garden Rose with a fantastic fragrance: ‘Rose de Rescht’.

The playing children caught my attention again.

I couldn’t help thinking how lucky they are to be growing up in an environment like this.

So cute!

Again, back to the roses. There was another stunning light yellow one, that was very charming.

I always fall for roses that are so fully petalled.

Looking over to the very left side of the house…

…and then to the very right. In the foreground, there is another rose that looked to me like an Old Garden Rose.

Lovely intense blue campanula!

To the very right of the house, there was a small addition with a wonderful ornate metal bank in front of it and other lovely rose to its side.

Of course, the English lawn can’t be missing in a true English garden.

‘Rose de Rescht’ with friends.

The photo shows the symmetrical layout of this part of the garden very well.

A look to the opposite side of the photo above. I love, love, love hand-stacked stone walls. They add so much charm and character to this garden.

I don’t know the name of this delicate beauty, but whatever it is, it is so very pretty!

One post can’t cover this whole garden so there will be a part two. Please, come back and explore the rest of the garden with me in another entry.

Wishing everyone a very nice weekend!

Warm regards,

Christina