Architecture

The Newt In Somerset

  • This pond – hauled to the Parabola from elsewhere on the estate – used to be a cider mill in which apples were crushed before the juice was extracted to make cider. The chairs are from the Danish brand HAY’s Palissade outdoor furniture collection, available at Créma Design.
    This pond – hauled to the Parabola from elsewhere on the estate – used to be a cider mill in which apples were crushed before the juice was extracted to make cider. The chairs are from the Danish brand HAY’s Palissade outdoor furniture collection, available at Créma Design.|
  • The Threshing Barn is a triple-volume limestone-and-glass structure based on a traditional farm building but masterfully reimagined with modern design elements and decor. Guests are welcomed here. The kinetic lighting installations by Studio Drift – Amsterdam-based artistic duo Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordijn – symbolise re-establishing the connections between humans and earth. The benches are by multi award-winning local furniture brand Houtlander.
    The Threshing Barn is a triple-volume limestone-and-glass structure based on a traditional farm building but masterfully reimagined with modern design elements and decor. Guests are welcomed here. The kinetic lighting installations by Studio Drift – Amsterdam-based artistic duo Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordijn – symbolise re-establishing the connections between humans and earth. The benches are by multi award-winning local furniture brand Houtlander.|
  • The UK consumes the most cider in the world, and there are an estimated 25 cider producers in Somerset alone. The Newt has a state-of-the-art cider press and cellar, and uses cold-fermentation processes to retain the full flavour of the fruit, so no sugar or water are added. The Cyder Café features Bistroo picnic tables by Extremis and furniture from the Fermob Luxembourg range.
    The UK consumes the most cider in the world, and there are an estimated 25 cider producers in Somerset alone. The Newt has a state-of-the-art cider press and cellar, and uses cold-fermentation processes to retain the full flavour of the fruit, so no sugar or water are added. The Cyder Café features Bistroo picnic tables by Extremis and furniture from the Fermob Luxembourg range.|
  • The Garden Café, which overlooks the Kitchen Garden, serves seasonal produce grown on the estate, as well as bread, pastry and charcuterie made in-house.
    The Garden Café, which overlooks the Kitchen Garden, serves seasonal produce grown on the estate, as well as bread, pastry and charcuterie made in-house.|
  • Everything grown in the walled Kitchen Garden can be sampled at the Garden Café, where the menu keeps getting updated to reflect what’s in season.
    Everything grown in the walled Kitchen Garden can be sampled at the Garden Café, where the menu keeps getting updated to reflect what’s in season.|
  • A hornbeam hedge borders the Lower Egg, in the middle of which is the Fowl House, home to chickens and ducks. Among the trees are a few of designer Porky Hefer’s woven seating nooks that look like weaver nests.
    A hornbeam hedge borders the Lower Egg, in the middle of which is the Fowl House, home to chickens and ducks. Among the trees are a few of designer Porky Hefer’s woven seating nooks that look like weaver nests.|
  • French architect Patrice Taravella designed and rehabilitated the gardens on the estate, and head of horticulture Iain Davies oversees a team of 18 (and growing) garden and woodland experts.
    French architect Patrice Taravella designed and rehabilitated the gardens on the estate, and head of horticulture Iain Davies oversees a team of 18 (and growing) garden and woodland experts.|
  • The Viper suspended walkway, made of curved steel and timber, winds through the treetops in the Deer Park, offering views of the Somerset landscape beyond the estate. It was designed and built by the two South Africans who created the Boomslang walkway at Kirstenbosch, architect Mark Thomas and engineer Harry Fagan.
    The Viper suspended walkway, made of curved steel and timber, winds through the treetops in the Deer Park, offering views of the Somerset landscape beyond the estate. It was designed and built by the two South Africans who created the Boomslang walkway at Kirstenbosch, architect Mark Thomas and engineer Harry Fagan.|
  • Cascading water runs down a channel from a circular water feature, an ancient grain mill converted into a tranquil pond.
    Cascading water runs down a channel from a circular water feature, an ancient grain mill converted into a tranquil pond.|
  • In the modern water garden, children delight in bronze fairy-tale frogs in various sizes that unexpectedly squirt water. The stone mosaic was created by a talented contractor working at The Newt during construction.
    In the modern water garden, children delight in bronze fairy-tale frogs in various sizes that unexpectedly squirt water. The stone mosaic was created by a talented contractor working at The Newt during construction.|
  • The estate is home to three newt species native to the UK, one of which – the great crested newt – is endangered. Great care is taken to protect the habitat of these amphibians, such as building special ponds for them.
    The estate is home to three newt species native to the UK, one of which – the great crested newt – is endangered. Great care is taken to protect the habitat of these amphibians, such as building special ponds for them.|
  • A spring tulip display in the Victorian Fragrance Garden. The gardeners change the oral displays from season to season, so there’s always something new to experience for returning visitors.
    A spring tulip display in the Victorian Fragrance Garden. The gardeners change the oral displays from season to season, so there’s always something new to experience for returning visitors.|

WORDS Leana Clunies-Ross PHOTOS Dook PRODUCTION Annemarie Meintjes

The gardens of The Newt in Somerset, recently opened to the public, are a mix of formal planting, wildflower meadows, apple orchards and more. We can’t wait to see what other delights the South African owners of this English country estate have in store.

The talents of South African style-setter Karen Roos are already legendary. Nine years ago, this visionary and her husband resurrected the previously neglected Babylonstoren farm near Paarl, which today draws visitors from all over the world.

Porky Hefer’s human-scale weaver nests have been wowing visitors to Babylonstoren and Cape Town’s Company Gardens, and now visitors to The Newt are in for a treat, too.

In 2013, the couple bought Hadspen House and its surrounding 120 hectares of land in Somerset, Emily Estate – a property that once belonged to generations of Emily Hobhouse’s family. With the help of French architect Patrice Taravella and a theatre full of skilled artisans, Karen, the creative director, reshaped the estate into gardens, potagers, lawns, ponds, wooden walkways, hornbeam hedges, and a maze of 460 apple trees inspired by gardens of the baroque period. They make cider on the estate, and there are restaurants, a garden shop, and a hotel and spa. Renamed for the protected newts that occur here, The Newt in Somerset fuses 2 000 years of British horticultural fashions and traditions with contemporary South African design.

For more information, visit thenewtinsomerset.com.

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