English Garden Paradise
Get thee to Greece to experience the luxurious surroundings of this sympathetically restored and landscaped English garden village hideaway
The Rou Estate is an ancient hamlet in the northeastern corner of Corfu, transformed into a luxury English Garden hideaway for private or corporate leisure, meetings celebrations. Each of its 14 beautifully restored houses has spectacular views onto the Ionian sea as well as towards herbcovered mountains. Each house has a private garden, but all settle harmoniously into a nest of small steps, archways and pergolas that makes
one vast garden, surrounded by some of the Mediterranean’s richest natural landscapes. The estate also provides multiple sports facilities, spa and health services. Harper’s Bazaar listed Rou as number five on its list of ‘best Greek retreats’. But Rou is exceptional also in its respect for both natural balance and local heritage. It offers a highly successful blending of drama and serenity.
The major magician of Rou is Dominic Skinner, an English architect who was meticulously trained at
Norman Foster and Partners in London and worked on projects such as the Millennium Bridge. He had
been coming to Corfu since childhood, and his wife Claire, whom he met on the island, is a holistic therapist. His garden advisors at Rou are the English team of Jennie Gay and Piers Goldson. Jennie, a Sheffield graduate in landscape architecture, spent several years designing and managing gardens in Jerusalem, Jericho and on Cephalonia. She writes a regular garden column for the Athens News, and has published a book on Greek gardens. Piers has global gardening experience, including the Mediterranean Collection in the Great Glasshouse at the National Botanic Garden of Wales; Longwood Gardens in Philadelphia; and the Haiwian Botanic Garden.
Jennie and Piers did an initial survey to help with the restoration of existing vegetation, including fine trees such as the turpentine tree (Pistacia terebinthus). They sorted the project into three main types for planting: the communal spaces, the individual gardens of each house, and the larger setting of meadows, stone terracing, woodlands and shelterbelts. For each, they incorporated the already existing and very rich local biodiversity. All flow into each other seamlessly.
Dominic first visualises his spaces, determines the ‘flavour’ he wants, then asks Jennie and Piers how best to achieve it. He might take inspiration from the creamy stone or from the silvery underside of olive foliage. His preferred colours range from silvers and whites to purples, mauves and lavender.
He loves to play with textures and light. Architecture and flora are inextricably entwined at Rou, where the latter not only softens the built landscape but also enhances the stonework. All three garden designers agreed at the outset to use simple but bold combinations of pastel-coloured flowers in combination with evergreen and ‘evergrey’ foliage.
‘We were very sparing with the plants,’ Jennie says. ‘So much is being said by the buildings already, especially in communal areas.’ With nothing fussy or contrived, there is great harmony and unity of style
throughout the place and from season to season.
English garden plants
Discerning use is made of signature plants - waves of seasonal flowers in the form of wild herbs, perennials and bulbs, such as lavender, rosemary, alliums and irises. These are repeated throughout the estate to create high visual impact.
The heart of Rou Estate is a dramatic pergola draped with wisteria, marking a kind of village square around a
rustic Italian stone well. The pergola is underplanted with giant alliums (Allium stipitatum ‘Mount Everest’), and later agapanthus (Agapanthus praecox subsp. orientalis) and Plumbago auriculata for continuous summer bloom. Other signature English garden plants include Lavandula x heterophylla Viv. Gaston Allard Group, a lavender variety resistant to cold, heat and variable watering regimes; Tulbaghia violacea; star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides); climbing Iceberg roses; santolina; and rosemary.
The individual English gardens allow for more complex mixes, and often feature the eye-catching Salvia
leucantha and Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’, along with nepetas, wormwood, curry plant (Helichrysum
italicum), euphorbias, cistus, phlomis and perovskia.
Garden trees and bulbs
The surrounding natural glades already had olive, cypress and almond trees, mixed oaks including the Valencia oak (Quercus ithaburensis subsp, macrolepis), the turpentine tree and Mediterraneanhackberry (Celtis australis). This mix has been subtly enriched with nut, berry and fruit trees including
strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) and Myrtus communis, as well as ground-cover plants and bulbs such as ivy-leaved sowbread (Cyclamen hederifolium), Paeonia officinalis, Helleborus x hybridus, Iris unguicularis, Liriope muscari, Anemone blanda, and ferns like Polypodium cambricum and Asplenium scolopendrium.
Rou Estate's gardens was brought to maturity in a miraculously short time, only three years. It continues to be
much more than a commercial project, in fact a labour of real devotion. ‘I sometimes walk around here and pretend I’m not the architect,’ admits Dominic. ‘I really love it!’ And everyone who visits Rou Estate feels the same.
You can stay at the Rou Estate through Simpson Travel, which rents out individual houses or the whole village weekly.
TOP GARDEN TIPS FROM DOMINIC & THE TEAM AT ROU
We use new cultivars and varieties of wild species that closely mimic the true species, but have a better flowering performance, as long as they harmonise with the surroundings and local growing conditions.
Spring and autumn are the finest moments for Mediterranean landscapes and gardens. These seasons are marked by explosions of flower and scent. Christmas is wonderful here too.
Our team values wildlife and environmental response, using rainwater storage, solar panels, ground source pumping for both heat and cooling, and economical irrigation too. We also use local materials and work force, and we don’t prune at nesting time.
We specialise in night illumination. You can design by directing the light onto textures and wall surfaces. You can play with reflections, mix vegetation and buildings, bringing out old walls and the beautiful shapes of plants.
ALSO IN THE AREA
If you are on Corfu - you lucky thing - the Rou team also recommends you try: GARDEN Gastouri Gardens A private garden south of Corfu town designed by the owner Cali Doxiadis, former president of the Mediterranean Garden Society, featuring water-wise Mediterranean plantings. This property formerly belonged to English garden writer Mirabel Osler. Contact first via email: calidox@otenet.gr
HOTEL Hotel Bella Mare in Avlaki bay, Corfu, Greece, Zip Code: 49 100. Tel: +30 26630 81997.
PLACES TO EAT Agni Restaurant in Agni bay. Book by tel: +30 26630 91142.
Also good is Nicos Galini Taverna in St Stephanos. Tel: +30 26630 81492
PHOTOGRAPHS CLIVE NICHOLS | WORDS LOUISA JONES
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