From vineyard estates on the French Riviera to wellness-focused retreats in Barbados and Arizona, outdoor space has become one of the most valuable assets in luxury real estate. Ruth Bloomfield explores why buyers are willing to pay a premium for exceptional gardens – and how developers are turning landscapes into lifestyle destinations...
A green barrier to protect against prying eyes, a showstopping space in which to exercise, relax and entertain, the ability to immerse yourself in nature right on your doorstep... Our collective appetite for the great outdoors, activated during the Covid-19 pandemic and stimulated by a growing library of research on the health benefits of being outside, means buyers now consider a great garden just as important as a perfect kitchen or spa-standard bathrooms, and are willing to pay a hefty premium to own one.
“People enjoy their gardens in so many different ways,” says Phillippa Dalby-Welsh, head of Savills’ country department in the UK. She estimates that a wow-factor garden can add up to 20 per cent to the value of a home. “Some enjoy looking at the garden as they would a work of art; others love to plan and change, delighting in finding inspiration for new design and planting schemes,” she continues.
“A walled garden that contains fruit trees and vegetable beds can really excite those who want a more sustainable lifestyle. And as our summers have been getting warmer, outdoor entertaining has become even more of a focus, and we’ve seen lots of impressive outdoor cooking and dining areas emerge. I’ve seen a party room built into the hillside and another place with tiered bench-style seating, like an amphitheatre, set into a sloping garden, all positioned around a firepit.”
A desire for top-notch green space is evident elsewhere in the world, too. In the South of France, says Jack Harris, a partner at Knight Frank, views are particularly important to his buyers – of the sea if on the Riviera, and over vineyards and olive trees when inland.
Harris’s buyers want to be able to eat – and indeed cook – outdoors, and a tennis court can be a real incentive to buy a home that will mostly be used in spring and summer. “As such, their use of the property is mainly outside to make the most of the climate and surrounding nature,” says Harris. “For some, it is more important to have a beautiful garden with generous outdoor terraces than a large indoor living room.”
And, of course, gardens also offer a practical benefit – privacy. “Some buyers like large grounds so that they are not only out of sight, but also out of earshot; they don’t want to hear splashing in the pool or loud music playing,” says Harris.
Historic homes clearly have an advantage when it comes to mature planting, but luxury developers are increasingly catching on to the importance of gardens.
The almost 1.5 hectares of gardens at Domaine de la Belle Étoile, a private compound on the Cap d’Antibes by Caudwell, are laid out in a series of “rooms”, including a rose garden, olive grove, chef’s garden and vineyard. There is also a secluded meditation garden and a boules court, as well as a glass-walled pool. The estate comprises a 1,320-square-metre main villa plus two guest houses and is priced at €58.95 million (approx £51m).
Even in sizzling hot climates like Arizona’s – where average daily highs exceed 35°C from June until September – stylish gardens have emerged as a major property selling point, says Christina Tierney, global real estate advisor at Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty.
“Views and outdoor space are incredibly important to luxury home buyers,” she says. “Residents spend a lot of time outdoors and desire spaces that seamlessly blend the interior with the outdoor living areas and the surrounding landscape.”
She points out that while summers are scorching, locals can spend plenty of time outdoors during spring, autumn and winter, and homes in these desert regions offer an unusual horticultural opportunity to incorporate sculptural cacti and grasses to create a natural-feeling space. “This is also a sustainable decision because it minimises irrigation needs,” says Tierney.
She is currently selling a spectacular example of this genre – a $10.5 million (approx £7.8m), four-bedroom, five-bathroom ranch house in Tucson. Its 0.6-hectare lot features a pool fringed by cacti, a terrace with space for eating and relaxing with views of the surrounding mountains and stunning naturalistic desert views from its floor-to-ceiling windows.
Given its almost year-round sunshine, spending time outdoors has always been a priority for buyers on Barbados, says Chris Parra, president and CEO of One Caribbean Estates, but expectations are becoming more sophisticated. “What we’re seeing now is a move toward creating fully equipped lifestyle spaces,” he says. “Outdoor kitchens and barbecue pavilions are particularly popular. “
Wellness provisions are also becoming increasingly common. “Amenities like outdoor gyms, padel courts, yoga decks, cold plunges and even saunas or steam rooms are being integrated into gardens so that the landscape becomes part of a daily well-being routine,” says Parra.
Established planting is also important because of the privacy and shade which older trees and palms can provide. “Many owners host garden lunches and evening cocktails outdoors, and a mature garden creates an atmosphere that feels established and elegant in a way that newly planted landscaping can’t replicate,” says Parra.
“For buyers who value character and privacy, that kind of garden can be just as much of a selling point as the house itself.”