William Sofield
His approach for his own garden was to use gates to create a series of outdoor rooms. “It’s a very small lot in relationship to the size of the building,” Sofield says (said building being a Gothic castle, complete with a tower, in Southampton). “So I created a sense of adventure ... by forming paths and circulation through the site.” The exterior mimics the style of the house in spirit with heavy benches and dark passageways, the gates and fences echoing the metalwork on the house and gazebo. “It does have a little Grey Gardens feel—a bit lush and decrepit and jagged around the edges, a little too overgrown at times. When I’m really feeling crazy, I go out and prune and prune. Gardens are like sculpture to me, but executed a bit differently.”
A view from inside William Sofield’s pool house, designed by Edward Elliston, circa 1911. Sofield describes the mix of antiques as “pan exotic.”
