A country estate offers a broad canvas for design, with opportunities to place larger art, water features and garden structures in a setting that can take their scale. A country estate is, in a sense, an essential part of its wider rural setting, and imposes a responsibility to maintain a look and feel that does not clash with its surroundings or depart too radically from its historic significance. Use of traditional materials and planting schemes to harmonise with existing architecture is important, but this doesn’t mean that contemporary ideas have to be excluded. Adding a modern twist to the design and planting, providing 21st century comfort and enjoyment on a more human scale is a challenging but satisfying way to combine clients’ contemporary tastes and lifestyle needs with the grand scale of a country estate.