Cordelia de Castellane’s flourishing French & English garden

[lively music]

I fell in love with the house and I saw the garden

and I saw, you know, the potential that I could do

in the garden, like a dream garden

that I was always dreaming of.

We wanted a weekend house next to Paris.

I grew up actually half of my time in nature

as I was in Switzerland.

So for me it was back to my roots to be back

at the countryside on weekends,

especially with four children.

For me, it's my number one key project is always

to keep the house and the garden very natural.

Like it's been there for always, we didn't touch it.

I ask Milan Hajsinek

who's a very good landscaper in England,

I didn't want to do something too French.

I didn't want to have too much symmetry.

I wanted to have something more English.

I was always attracted by English gardens.

I wanted a lot of flowers and I want flowers from April

to really end of October, as much as I can

because it's so inspiring for my work.

Here actually was the place

where they were keeping all the wood before in the property

and I said to Milan, okay,

I want a table here because I want to be able

to have the four squares of flowers in front of me

and be able to paint them and to have a place

where I could design

and also a place where we could have lunch

and enjoy the view.

Behind me there's a little window

because of course, when you are sitting there,

you have that beautiful view of the garden.

But I thought it's also about the people

that they cannot face a wall when they sit here.

So it's Milan who had the idea I had, okay,

let's put a mirror.

And Milan said, No, better let's open it

on the real gem that you have behind

'cause I must say, the house has a divine view.

On this table,

I have those glasses that I took in Venezia.

I love them.

I have them in lots of different stripes, in lots of colors.

They mix with everything.

Those are the glasses of jar with the lily of the valley

and a lot of the flowers comes from my garden

and arrives on the plate.

And also the colors of the flowers always, you know,

inspire me to do my color palettes

for all the Baby Dior collection as well

because you know, it's a beautiful link

between my work and my life.

[tranquil music]

I was obsessed to have a greenhouse.

I really wanted to have a place where I could put,

of course, all my plants and do all my arrangements

but also a place where I could have some tables

and have dinner.

We even spent a Christmas here

because there's the heating inside with lot of candles.

I used to have a little brand for children clothes

before Baby Dior who was CdeC, it was in London as well.

And the colors of the stores were all in that colors.

And Milan came to me and said, You know,

I remember you had that special colors on your stores

so why don't we make it that color?

And actually, it's one of my favorite colors.

So we went for that.

[lively music]

I love all the flowers.

I'm quite obsessed by all different kind of flowers.

In few weeks, we will have the Japanese anemones.

I collect few different types of them

and I love them because they move with the wind,

you know, it's like the Gaura.

I love those flowers with a lot of space between them.

And when you do the bouquet and your arrangement,

it gives a bit of air in it.

Saying that, of course, I love the roses.

I think they smell divine

and they're so beautiful in the garden.

Dahlias is absolutely my favorite

and I love tulips as well, but they're not there now.

So you have peonies

and my favorite one are the yellow one there.

Even if I don't like yellow,

don't ask me why, I love yellow peonies.

[lively music]

The other side of the garden is much more English

and this side is really much more French.

And I wanted to keep it very simple

because the house and the stone is really beautiful.

We have a beautiful lave just next door

who has the most beautiful David Austin roses,

one of the unique in France who sells.

We have few of them climbing.

It's quite, you know, like that, very calm and French.

And suddenly, they go the other side of the garden

and it's completely wild and more English.

And I like those places very separate

and different in the garden.

[lively music]

I always say that a house with no flowers has no soul.

It's very important for me.

So I have a place in my garden,

which actually is completely about cutting flowers.

And the weekends I like to pick them up

at the beginning of the weekend to make all the arrangement

for each room and for the living room.

Actually, we have a lot of peonies now going out

and foxgloves and all of that.

Yeah, so I love to do all my arrangement.

It's very strange because when we started to move the lines

of the garden and create the garden together,

suddenly also my interior changed.

I changed some place of furniture.

I add a few things, the colors changed.

The house really took life when the garden start

to be there.

And that's quite fun.

[lively music]