Synopsis
A renovated Grade II Tudor farmhouse with an award winning 21 st century oak clad extension commissioned by Mr Morris and designed by James Gorst architects with gardens by BBUK. ("This is a fascinating and exciting scheme by an architect with an established reputation in handling listed buildings with both sensitivity and flair." - The Ancient Monument Society)
Wakelins is in the heart of Suffolk, surrounded by ancient woods and flowering meadows. It is owned by Helen and Anthony Colletta who live there with their sons and a wonderful array of dogs and ducks. Helen weaves sculpture from willow and has a love for animals having grown up on a farm. She works without any reference, when she is sculpting a pig she just knows how he would sit, it is an instinct. Other willow works in the garden: dogs, horses, a hyena, a gardener, a pregnant lady, peacocks and a hippo.
The photographs at Wakelins illustrate Helen’s sculpture around the garden; weaving a pig by her workshop; formal flower beds around the house; a long prairie style border along one side of the paddock and Helen with her dogs. There are some additional photographs of her sculpture in a Cambridgeshire garden where they were displayed for an open day in support of Mind. Helen’s willow sculptures made an appearance at Chelsea Flower Show in 2016 as part of her nephew’s, Will Williams, exhibit in the Floral Marquee. Will Williams, who is only 20, won a Silver medal at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show last year with his first garden: Streetscapes Summer In Sussex.
There are eight acres of gardens at Wakelins. There is a beautiful paddock with a huge range of flora; many of the plants were introduced as plug plants by the garden designers BBUK in 2003. The paddock is not only beneficial to insects but is an idyllic home to two retired Thoroughbred horses. A ha- ha separates the paddock from the prairie style border and the more formal areas nearer the house. On the original Tudor side of the house there is a pond, enjoyed by the ducks, with a willow tree. On the side of the new 21st century
library extension there is a pool reflecting the lines of the building and balancing the garden and house. A marble sculpture, carved from a single piece of Italian marble, was commissioned for the garden and sits magnificently at one end of the reflecting pool.
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