Words Holly Nicholas

In the podcast, Dan describes the house he grew up in – a once-dilapidated Arts and Crafts house in Hampshire, lovingly restored by his family over the course of many years. Previously inhabited by a reclusive neighbour, the gardens surrounding the house were “literally pressing against the all the windows,” with vegetation under the skirting board and wrapped around furniture. His parents fell in love with the building; Dan and his brother Luke (of design studio Pearson Lloyd) were “terrified of it – in a good way.”

Its restoration became a lifelong project for his parents; Dan remembers gradually clearing the overgrown garden to “find this rather wonderful garden underneath the undergrowth.” He describes how the house had an “incredibly strong identity and sense of place. And in clearing the garden, which had an equally strong identity and sense of place, I fell in love with this whole idea of the natural world, and what happens to a place when it’s taken over by nature and overwhelmed. It’s been a constant dialogue in my work; that teetering point between things being maintained and nature having the upper hand.”

Moving to the house at the age of 10 was an “absolutely pivotal moment” in Dan’s life, and it was here that he discovered his connection with gardening and the natural world. With guidance from his parents, and older neighbours who shared his love of gardening, he discovered the “alchemy in the process” of gardening. He says, “Once you understand that it’s about the nurturing, it’s about the day-to-day observation, about noticing why something might be doing well or not and then adjusting your behaviour around that to make it do better, there’s a reciprocity in it that is contagious.”

After “slipping through the cracks” at school, Dan heeded his mother’s advice to follow his heart and study horticulture. An apprenticeship at Wisley, the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship garden in Surrey, was the first step in a long and successful career in landscape design. Dan describes the gardens and spaces he has created as “quiet places that allow other things to happen,” and reflects on how he is drawn to things that have evolved organically over time.

His home – which is thought to have its roots in the 17th century – is a true example of this approach. When Dan and Huw bought it 15 years ago, it was “just a little stone house on the hill, two-up two-down, with a small barn that we’ve now converted into a living space and then a big barn which is for the land.” The house, “authentically itself”, had been done up in a makeshift way in the ‘80s, and “was charmless enough not to worry about it.”

Over the years, the pair have thoughtfully updated the house, which Dan sees as a “little observatory hut” on the hill, “a lens through which the landscape is honed. To him, “the house is the hub … a point where everything comes together.” The interplay between indoor and out is central to the house and its occupants; a key feature is a rustic outdoor kitchen where Dan and Huw prepare and eat most of their meals through spring, summer, autumn – and even into winter, until the wind draws them inside. (An exclusive video tour of Dan and Huw’s house is available for members on Patreon, priced at £6 per month.)

To Dan, home is a safe space, a refuge, and a joy to share with friends and loved ones. He says, “We’ve put all this love into it that is tangible, and other people want to be part of it. And that’s a really wonderful feeling, the feeling of being able to share something that’s got some soul. I think this place always did have soul, but it was buried. The nice thing about being part of it is that we’ve managed to nurture it back into something that feels more accessible, and a good place to be.”

Forthcoming episodes of Homing feature Sam Taylor-Johnson and Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith. Subscribe to Homing or become a member of Patreon and as always, happy listening.