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Interior designer Charlotte Moss has described how travel memories and family history informed the design of her Virginia garden. Its central water rill, inspired by European gardens, connects planted areas and terraces designed for sitting and entertaining.
Interior designer, author and philanthropist Charlotte Moss has described the influences behind her Virginia garden, a landscape centered on a water rill inspired by European gardens and shaped by memories of travel and family. In a report by Homes and Gardens, Moss explains how the feature, alongside planted areas and terraces, makes the garden a place for both quiet observation and entertaining.
Moss said the property initially had a small fenced garden, planted mainly with peonies, flowers and herbs, while trees dominated the rest of the landscape. She wanted to change the setting, adding trees including magnolias, sycamores, apple trees and large boxwoods, as well as a small, all-green parterre beside the flower room. She also envisioned more hardscape, terraces and a water feature.
The water feature is arranged as an upper rill, a central pool and a lower rill, which ends at a round basin topped by a tall obelisk. Moss said she wanted copper beech trees and grasses to frame the water, adding height and movement. Her account connects the design to the rills at Rousham Gardens in Oxfordshire and to other European examples.
Other details also reflect particular places and memories. Moss said espaliered apple and pear trees against the house were influenced by a garden she visited in France. An existing brick garden now holds irises, with limestone columns and chains supporting climbing roses. She traced that arrangement to Eyrignac in France’s Dordogne region, where she encountered what she described as a rose-covered boundary that invites visitors closer rather than keeping them out.
A Garden Built for Use and Memory
Moss’s account offers a practical example of how a garden can combine personal history, borrowed design ideas and everyday use. The rill is not simply a visual centerpiece: Moss said its sound was part of what she wanted to bring to the Virginia property, drawing on a moment at the Keukenhof gardens in the Netherlands when her husband pointed out the sound of water. She had later added a water feature to their East Hampton garden, and the experience helped inform the Virginia design.
The layout also shows how the landscape is intended to function. Moss said the central pool and stone sofa provide a gathering point, while terraces accommodate tables for meals and drinks. In her view, garden design and interior design share a concern with welcome and places to sit. That approach matters to readers interested in landscape design because it frames the garden not only as a collection of plants, but as a series of spaces for different activities.
Her account also makes clear that the influences are personal rather than presented as a strict historical reconstruction. A memory of European gardens sits alongside the story of her grandmother’s irises. Moss recalled being struck by the flowers’ brief life once cut and by her grandmother placing a single iris in a vase. She said she only later understood why one flower could be enough. The recollection gives the iris beds a family association as well as a design role.
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European Visits Shape the Layout
The reported garden developed from a landscape Moss found too limited for what she wanted. She described the original property as having a small enclosed garden and a larger area dominated by trees. Her response included removing old trees and planting new ones, while retaining an old brick garden from the original house as the setting for the irises.
The source describes influences drawn from several visits rather than a single model: Rousham in Oxfordshire informed the rill, Eyrignac in France inspired the rose-supported chains, and a French garden prompted the espaliered fruit trees. Moss also recalled noticing water sounds at Keukenhof. These references are presented in her own account as memories that surfaced while she was designing, not as claims that the Virginia garden replicates any one European site.
The garden connects directly to Moss’s flower room, whose side windows look onto the green parterre. She said the room is also used to house plants being rotated, orchids returning to bloom and plants that need repotting. That link between indoor plant care and the outdoor layout is part of the garden’s use, though the source excerpt ends while discussing the room and does not provide further details.
“The visual memories from my travels are inescapable.”
— Charlotte Moss, in the Homes and Gardens report
Details the Report Does Not Give
The source is a design report based on Moss’s account, not an independent survey of the property. It does not state when the garden was built or photographed, give dimensions or costs, or identify the landscape professionals involved. It also provides no information about how the planting has changed since the garden was created, or how it is maintained today.
The supplied report excerpt ends mid-sentence while describing the flower room, so it may omit further material from the original article. The available text does not establish whether the garden is open to visitors or whether Moss plans any new work there. Its account of the design influences and uses should be understood as Moss’s description, rather than a separate evaluation of the landscape.
No Further Project Plans Reported
The source reports Moss’s reflections on the completed garden and does not announce a new project, opening, renovation or scheduled event. No next milestone is identified in the material provided. Further details about the property, its maintenance or any future changes would need to come from Moss, her representatives or a later report.
Key Questions
What is the main feature of Charlotte Moss’s Virginia garden?
The central feature is a water rill connecting an upper channel, a main pool and a lower channel that ends at a round basin with an obelisk.
Which European gardens influenced the design?
Moss cited Rousham Gardens in Oxfordshire as an influence on the rill and Eyrignac in France’s Dordogne region as inspiration for chains supporting climbing roses. She also recalled a French garden that influenced the espaliered apple and pear trees.
Why did Moss include irises?
The iris garden is tied to a memory of Moss’s maternal grandmother, who grew irises. Moss recalled her grandmother placing one iris in a vase and said the memory later shaped her appreciation of the flower.
How is the garden used for entertaining?
Moss said guests sit on a stone sofa beside the central pool, while terraces are used for dining and drinks. She described the garden as providing room to move, fresh air and the sound of water.
Source: homesandgardens.com
