Architectural Gem in Lancashire- The Old Zoo House and gardens
This weekend I visited the house and gardens of the late Gerald Hitman. What a treat, only 5 miles from my doorstep, it could be a million miles away. The Old Zoo Garden is set in the heart of the Ribble Valley in Brockhall Village, Lancashire, right next to Blackburn Rovers training ground.
The Old Zoo was designed by SimaFarjardi and in 1999 the Museum of Modern Art, New York held an exhibition entitled The unPrivate House it was designed to feature the best of contemporary domestic architecture in the world, it featured 28 homes of which The Old Zoo was the only one in the UK.
There is an interesting article about the house and gardens here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/3357790/A-crazy-design-but-it-works.html
To be honest I was more intereted in seeing the house, which looks like concrete but is actually vertical thatch. Having wandered around the 15 acres of garden I realised it all works together, the clean modernist lines of the house and the garden immediately surrounding it, contrast well with the organic shapes and designes of the rest of the gardens. The garden was full of sculptures but they have now been put into storage.
I have posted a few photographs below.
Paul
WOuld love to see the photos of The Old Zoo as i have bought it.