One of the most interesting things about revisiting a project like Château Capitoul is seeing what happens after the “new garden” phase has passed. Six years on, the landscape has moved beyond installation and into maturity, and it is far stronger for it.
The discipline of James Basson’s design is what makes it work. There is enormous restraint here. Large sweeps of gravel and stone are allowed to breathe, planting is carefully controlled, and every element feels tied to the surrounding landscape rather than competing with it. Nothing feels overfilled or decorative for the sake of it
That discipline is matched by the planting itself, much of it supplied through Olivier Filippi’s extraordinary nursery work. These are not generic Mediterranean-style plants dropped into a resort setting. They are species selected for genuine drought tolerance and their ability to live naturally in harsh, mineral soils with heat, wind and very little water.
What impressed me just as much were the villa gardens. Often in resort developments the shared spaces are beautifully resolved while the private gardens become fragmented or diluted. Here they still feel cohesive. The planting palette carries right across the estate, so even the villas sit comfortably within the wider landscape.
And six years on, the result is convincing in a way that young gardens rarely are. The shrubs have settled into the stone, trees have softened edges, and the whole place feels embedded in the site rather than recently constructed. It is a reminder that dry-climate gardens often become more beautiful with age, not less.
Rough Cut Kitchen 
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