London's Coolest Neighborhood Has a Secret Wellness Garden

In this leafy North London neighborhood, you can expect to find some of the city’s most charming pubs and an endless slew of trendy establishments, serving up small plates and natural wines. What you may not expect to find, however, is a garden haven of biodiversity, complete with an outdoor sauna and a turquoise-hued natural pool.

In this De Beauvoir home, the classic makings of an urban space are swapped for something that feels a little more magical. Designed by the team at Mosley Thorold alongside garden designer and landscaper Sophie Gordon, this wellness garden, with winding paths and verdant greenery, explores how to create a space that supports the natural world just as much as it supports the homeowners.

Consistent throughout this project is the commitment to tranquility, harmony, and cohesion, relying on natural materials and sustainable processes to build a home that feels like a true escape from everything that lies beyond it.

The Brief

modern extension on a victorian home, viewed from the split-level garden, with a paved sunken area and a grassy upper level — Wide, glazed doors open up onto a sunken patio area, offering a seamless transition between the indoors and outdoors.

Leading directly from the glass-walled open-plan modern kitchen, the garden was designed to be in conversation with the wider design of the home, existing as a natural continuation of the property.

For the interiors and exteriors alike, there was one clear intention running through this project: “Our client wanted a retreat within the city,” explains Nathaniel Mosley, from Mosley Thorold.

The desire was for a space that could support the clients’ lives, offering an escape from the rush of the city, as well as a place to invite friends and family. They were looking for a space “which could feel restorative, but would also work naturally when they were entertaining,” says Nathaniel, and this was as important in the garden’s design as it was in the rest of the house.

The glass extension on the lower floor, with a large open-plan kitchen, living and dining area, makes the intention for entertaining clear. In summer, with the glass doors swung open wide, it’s easy to imagine the party flowing into the outdoor area, allowing that same calm, laid-back style to be maintained throughout the indoor-outdoor living space all the more important.

a view from inside a wooden sauna looking out to a natural pool in a greenery filled garden

Looking out from the wooden sauna, the bright green plants and turquoise water create a backdrop that feels a million miles away from the urban setting.

(Image credit: Ollie Tomlinson. Design: Mosley Thorold)

As you move through the garden, however, passing through the initial paved outdoor dining area, through to the grassier, nature-covered outdoor wellness space, the atmosphere shifts slightly, taking on a more whimsical, transportive quality. This was, Nathaniel says, the intention of the design. “We wanted the garden to have the same sense of calm as the house, but to feel more immersive,” he explains. And through the softly winding paths and thick, luscious planting, this immersive aspect was able to flourish.

So much of this seemingly magical quality comes from the landscape design of the garden, and the way verdant planting envelops the space in a thick, lush hug of greenery.

“We worked with garden designer Sophie Gordon to create a landscape that felt secluded yet abundant, with a slight dramatic quality,” explains Nathaniel. With a combination of low, potted plants and tall shoots of bamboo, there is a softness to this messy gardening style; an organic warmth that provided a welcome contrast to the harsh lines and hard materials of the surrounding architecture.

Thick, lush hedges make this urban garden more private, making it feel like a truly secluded escape for both the homeowners and their visitors.

The Process

modern extension on a Victorian London home, with glass panels and copper details — A modern extension attached to a Victorian home creates a striking juxtaposition for the garden to build upon.

Part of a full, transformative restoration project, this garden bears little resemblance to what once lay in its place. After years of abandonment, the garden “had become quite overgrown and enclosed, with dense planting making it feel dark,” explains Nathaniel.

But while time had not been kind to the space, shrouding any definition beneath a messy jumble of weeds, the overgrown garden did allow for the growth of some rather impressive, mature plants and trees. So, rather than rip away the years of nature’s hard work, Nathaniel decided to adopt a more considered approach, taking care to retain the more established plants while making space for new growth, too.

London garden with a natural pool and a wooden sauna behind it

A wooden sauna and changing room lead onto the gorgeous natural pool, creating an area for wellness rituals.

(Image credit: Ollie Tomlinson. Design: Mosley Thorold)

Maintaining older, established plants, like the impressive lime tree, while integrating new shrubs and trees made for a beautifully varied effect, where the old and new seamlessly interweave, practically indistinguishable from one another.

Even the newest additions were designed in such a way that they seem as though they’d always been there, and no feature exemplifies this more than the stunning natural pool.

An obvious focal point in the design, this pool was introduced as a way to bring function and beauty to what was an otherwise underused plot of land at the far end of the garden. “A natural pool transformed that space into a destination while making the water feel like part of the landscape rather than an inserted object,” explains Nathaniel.

Getting to this point, however, was not without its struggles. “The main challenge was fitting the pool, filtration, deck and planting into a relatively constrained London garden,” explains Nathaniel, “Access was also restricted, with materials having to come through the house.” But, looking at the final result, it feels fair to say the struggle was worthwhile.

The Design

A wooden sauna with black exterior in a paved London garden — The raw, wooden interior of the sauna provides another layer of contrast, bringing warmth to the black facade.

Contrast and balance sit at the heart of this modern garden design. While the natural pool brings a bright, organic flow and softness to the space, the black-painted sauna that overlooks the water feature feels comparatively sleek and modern.

Then, as a further point of contrast, next to the sauna is a quarried stone-covered changing room, providing a textural finish that looks mature next to the crisp black coating on the outdoor sauna.

Reflecting the growing trend for wellness gardens, this combination of natural pool and sauna brings a ritual of mindfulness into the space for the homeowners to incorporate into their daily routine.

natural pool surrounded by greenery with a wooden sauna at the far end

The natural pool stretches out from the sauna to the farthest edge of the garden, creating a beautiful, natural end for the garden design.

(Image credit: Ollie Tomlinson. Design: Mosley Thorold)

As much as this practical, ritualistic aspect played a role in how the garden was designed, there was also plenty of thought that went into the visual aspects, too.

Designing the space with sightlines in mind, Nathaniel built a garden that told a story, and one that culminates at the beautiful pool. “The journey towards the pool is inviting and serene,” he explains.

Intentionally creating a build-up within the journey, Nathaniel says, “The whole garden is not revealed all at once; the planting creates a series of thresholds and moments of enclosure before you reach the water.

“It echoes the idea we used throughout the house of designing spaces and moments that slowly reveal themselves.”

Kirami

Kirami Finvision Wood-Fired Misty Sauna

AURGOD

Aurgod Outdoor Sauna 2 Person

AURGOD

Aurgod Sloped Outdoor Sauna

The beauty of this garden is how nature and wellness intertwine, forming a harmonious and cohesive design that feels like a true escape from the city. If you want to create an outdoor retreat of your own, here are a few things you can do to make your garden feel calmer.