Dick & Angel’s Outdoor Kitchen Renovation
Escape to the Chateau viewers were enthralled by Dick and Angel Strawbridge’s recent folly renovation, but the couple’s work in the walled garden didn’t stop there, as they created a new outdoor entertaining area, complete with a kitchen and covered wooden pergola.
A cuisine d’ete (a summer kitchen) was the next project on the couple’s agenda to be built within the chateau’s walled garden. The recent transformation of the Victorian folly opened Dick and Angel’s eyes to the enormous potential of the area around it.
Angel had big visions for an outdoor kitchen, and she had lots of details already mapped out. For example, alongside a kitchen and pergola with a roof, Angel wanted a semi-circle on the floor in a similar stone to what’s at the gate at the front of the chateau for continuity.
But before any building could be done, Dick had to map out how it would work logistically. He decided that the area was going to be slated – the couple had enough slate left over from the folly, which was actually the slate left over from the orangery.
‘As well as having the shaded area, we want somewhere to sit and enjoy the bright summer,’ Dick said, which is why the couple chose a pergola with a perspex roof on top to enable them to have a table and chairs for dining.
Dick began clearing the trees and found some old wood still attached to the wall that formed part of a trellis – most of the walls used to be covered in wooden battens, held up with iron hooks.
With help at hand, building a roof on top of the 150-year-old wall for the outside kitchen was the first task on the to-do list. There also had to be an abutment, or rather what Dick called, an ‘abutment barbecue’. From the French word abouter, meaning to join or abut, the new abutment not only needed to support a solid stone wall, but also enclose a barbecue and chimney.
Other renovations included laying and grouting the paving stones (there were over 24 tonnes of paving stone for the outdoor kitchen and dining area), and Dick created a wooden shelf and reused spare oak to hold pots and pans in the kitchen.
Keen to reuse and recycle whenever they can, Angel also made a wall hanging for the eating area by reusing bamboo chopped down from the bamboo forest when they were renovating the folly. The wall art sits at the centre of the seating area and can be personalised and added to as new memories are created.
The floor tiles replicates what currently in the folly. ‘This design detail ties in with the folly but also it gives you that feeling that you’ve got a rug down outside. I’m really chuffed with that because I feel like it defines this,’ said Angel.
Dick planted jasmines and clematis, popular trailing plants, next to the pergola’s posts, which he’s hoping one day will cover the pergola in years to come. Meanwhile, Angel created a mini pond water feature to add tranquility to the new outdoor space.
With the aim of using the space all year-round (Dick was especially looking forward to barbecuing in the rain), Angel was in her element as she began adding furniture – from an outdoor sofa to chairs, cushions and throws – to create a homely feel. She added candles and macrame lanterns on the table for extra ambience.
’That’s what takes a little outside area and takes it to a different level because you’re taking a little bit of softness from the house and bringing it outside, and I think that’s what makes it feel special,’ Angel said.
What was once a rather inconspicuous area of the garden, now has a folly providing peace and quiet and an adjoining outdoor kitchen and dining area that can be used all year round. A place of tranquility of calm, Dick and Angel can entertain family and friends, creating a cosy outdoor space for all to enjoy and relax in – and Arthur and Dorothy were equally thrilled with the outdoor makeover.
Delighted with the transformation, Angel said: ‘It feels like we’ve created something for the first time that wasn’t there before.’
Together, the family – Dick, Angel, Arthur, Dorothy, and Angel’s mum and dad – sat down for their first alfresco meal in the new space, with food including vegetables from the garden and jam made from homegrown tomatoes. Making a toast, they raised their glasses ‘to eating outside’.
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