Cordelia de Castellane's French garden is an abundant haven of beautiful flowers
Cordelia de Castellane lives a life full of flowers. As the creative director of Dior Maison and Baby Dior, she designs collections of exquisite homeware and childrenswear often inspired by flowers – and by her muse, Christian Dior. At her weekend house in L’Oise, north of Paris, she grows hundreds of flowers for cutting. She has decorated the interior with beautiful floral wallpapers and fabrics and, in many rooms, botanical prints line the walls. ‘I’m obsessed with flowers,’ she says. ‘I grew up between Paris and the mountains in Switzerland. I used to garden with my grandmother and I always longed for my own garden.’
Owners of a flat in Paris, Cordelia and her husband used to rent a weekend cottage in the grounds of what is now their house in L’Oise. Once owned by the textile designer Primrose Bordier, the manor house stands in its own formal two-acre garden and, as the previous owners spent much time abroad, Cordelia would tend the garden at weekends while they were away. When the house came up for sale five years ago, she jumped at the chance to buy it and, suddenly, the garden was hers. ‘I immediately made the borders larger, planted a kitchen garden and started learning from podcasts and Instagram,’ she says. One of her Instagram heroes was London-based garden designer Milan Hajsinek. ‘We used to exchange messages and ideas. One day, he said he was going to be nearby, so he came for lunch. Then my small project somehow got bigger.’
Milan has helped to remodel the garden, keeping some of the original layout but adding new structural elements, including a curving cloud of clipped box between a wonderful old copper beech and a Magnolia grandiflora. The garden at the front of the house is unadorned. Elegant and simple, it has a square of lawn embellished with large box spheres. The house itself is softened by climbing roses, and by the entranceway stands a classic French pigeonnier (dovecote), which Cordelia uses for drying flowers and storing seeds.
At the rear of the house, the garden is bisected by a long grassy walk with generous borders on either side. A cross-axis path creates a view across the garden over the box clouds to the fields beyond – and back towards the greenhouse. Old-fashioned David Austin roses in pinks, creams and apricots are punctuated by cones and mounds of clipped box and skirted by vibrant herbaceous perennials. ‘I wanted a very English look,’ says Cordelia. ‘My French-style garden is at the front, but my heart was set on an English flower garden at the back.’
The lines of the outside space are designed to work with the house. ‘I wanted to link the garden and the interior,’ she says. ‘They needed a common language. I was always looking inwards and now I’m looking out.’ A greenhouse was essential and, rather than hiding it away, Milan wanted it to be a strong feature. ‘I like to put a greenhouse in the middle of a garden – I view it as a church,’ he explains. Painted a pale blue-green (the colour of Cordelia’s former childrenswear brand CdeC), the greenhouse draws the eye from every corner of the garden. A quadrangle of beds overflow with a sumptuous mix of peonies, lupins, foxgloves, phlox, larkspur, valerian and other cottage-garden favourites, which mingle in a charming, unpremeditated way. ‘I favour a natural look. It’s the same inside the house,’ says Cordelia. ‘I don’t want things to look brand new. I like to respect the DNA of a place, whether it’s the house or the garden.’ To ensure she has a never-ending supply to arrange, Cordelia has made more beds for cut flowers behind the greenhouse and recently cleared an entire meadow so she can now grow her beloved tulips and dahlias, as well as cosmos, delphiniums and peonies.
This passion overflows into Cordelia’s creative work at Dior, where she has spent hours in the archives to learn more about ‘Mr Dior’, as she calls the company’s founder. He was deeply influenced by his childhood home and garden at Villa Les Rhumbs, near Granville in Normandy. He shared his mother’s love of flowers, and every aspect of his work was inspired by them.
‘I love the connection with Mr Dior,’ says Cordelia. ‘I’m Aquarius like him, I’m superstitious like him and I’m also obsessed with flowers. He has become a friend – we have long conversations with each other.’ She has reimagined his floral designs in dinnerware for Dior Maison, including the new ‘La Colle Noire’ collection, which contains plates, glasses and napkins adorned with delicate sketches of six of his favourite flowers – lily of the valley, lilac, poppy, rose, carnation and tulip. ‘Many of my ideas are born here,’ she says. ‘Being in the countryside and the garden is so important to me, and the pieces we create are connected to nature.’
Meanwhile, Milan continues to visit several times a year to develop the garden with Cordelia. ‘For the first time, I’m sharing a project with someone else, and it is so nice,’ she says. ‘We argue a bit – he’s quite OCD and I’m more bohemian, but we complement each other. When I planted some yellow irises that were meant to be purple a couple of years ago, he wasn’t happy. But he came back the next year and said he was pleased with “his” idea. I pointed out it was my accident, thank you!’
Spending most weekends there, Cordelia is in the garden as much as possible, sowing seeds and picking blooms. ‘It is where I’m happiest – it’s my therapy,’ she says. When not gardening, she is entertaining friends and family, creating tablescapes with her own linen and tableware, with everything set off to perfection by her floral arrangements. ‘I want to grow enough for everyone,’ she laughs, and, as friends will testify, no one leaves the domain of Cordelia de Castellane without at least a posy – if not an armful – of fresh flowers.
Milan Hajsinek: greenfuturegardens.com
Dean Hearne1/8Punctuated by box spheres and cones for structural interest, two abundant herbaceous borders bisect the space. Established trees, such as this apple tree and a flowering honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) bring a sense of age to the garden
Dean Hearne2/8Behind the cutting beds, Cordelia’s beloved greenhouse stands in pride of place, providing a distinctive focal point. It was sourced in Belgium and is painted in the eye-catching blue-green used for the branding for her former childrenswear business
Dean Hearne3/8The greenhouse is perfect for summer entertaining.
Dean Hearne4/8Long herbaceous borders lead to a secluded arbour
Dean Hearne5/8Cloud-pruned box balls contrast with the copper beech above
6/8A bespoke lantern hangs below the honey locust
Dean Hearne7/8The front of the house looks out over a formal square of lawn, with the new cutting meadow just visible beyond it. Cordelia uses the traditional stone pigeonnier on the left for drying flowers and storing seeds she collects from her plants
Dean Hearne8/8A view over the cross axis of the garden, looking beyond the line of cloud-pruned box to open farmland. Yellow irises ‘planted by mistake’ were a happy accident, offering a wonderful contrast with the mauve and purple varieties opposite
