Page 3 - DAVID MUIRHEAD | GARDEN AND HOME MAY 2014

jo’burg garden

Who lives here

Interior designer David Muirhead and his dogs.

The garden

A contemporary split-level garden in Parkmore, Jo’burg, designed with

entertaining in mind.
D

avidMuirhead is not only extremely adept at visualising,
he also isn’t afraid of large scale alterations involving

earth-moving equipment. What he’d bought in a quiet,

tree-lined street in Parkmore, Jo’burg, was a roomy
but dated bungalow; the garden bordered by a low wall and a

series of giant banana palms. What he imagined, was a split-level
contemporary space that would create a verdant backdrop to an

entertainer’s patio.
“The property was one flat surface,” he explains, “with no sense

of approach and a vast kidney-shaped pool. The first step was to
build a substantial boundary wall that turned into a useful visual

canvas. The next was to excavate the entire garden space so that

the house sits at a higher, more dramatic level. This allowed me to
create a strong sense of entry from the front gate with an avenue of

leopard trees leading towards the house and wide shallow 

THIS PAGE, ToP To boTTom: An avenue of leopard trees
leads from the front gate to the patio. Pennyroyal groundcover

was planted between the staggered pavers along the pathway.
The rim flow pool was positioned in front of
oPPoSITE PAGE:
the camphor tree to draw the eye towards it.

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gardenandhome.co.za | MAY 2014