Creating a dramatic entrance to your Marbella property

The desire to impress and impose goes back a long time, and it’s not restricted to kings and their stately palaces either. Many an architect, interior decorator and landscaper learned to work with space, light, colours and decorative designs in ways that take your breath away upon entering a property, and it’s an art that is as old as the house itself. The Roman villa first made an impact by offering a mesmerising perspective through the hallway and living areas across the garden straight to the shimmering sea from the very moment you opened the front door.

It’s a design still much in use today, especially in a place as sunny and endowed with fabulous sea views as Marbella, where the classic driveway leading between tall trees past immaculate lawns and ornate fountains continues to impress and delight visitors. But such a property needs the kind of extensive grounds usually limited to palaces and mansions. Though we have both in Marbella – historical as well as modern homes – you needn’t have an immense garden in order to impress guests and residents alike.

 

Ways to make an impression with lighting

Light and water provide perhaps the most impressive display of all, and it begins with warm lighting projected against walls, stone and trees that catches and indeed enhances their rich textures. If you have the space, it’s a perfect way to frame a driveway and create a storyboard for the entrance to your property. Water features such as classic fountains or more contemporary right-angled ponds projected with ambient or even coloured lighting is a finishing touch that breathes sophistication while also adding a touch of Zen atmosphere.

What light does in the evenings contrasting tones, forms and above all textures can be achieved during the day, and if you split levels and add a few elegantly styled stairs it further enhances the effect.

 

 

Take a natural path

A very current trend is to use natural materials and matt finishes that blend into the garden, while organic shapes such as those found in the countryside are preferable over straight lines too. So let your pathway follow the contours of the land rather than ‘taming’ it to produce a straight corridor. The mind will engage with it more and on a subconscious level find meandering forms more appealing and welcoming.

Another way to play with angles and dazzle the senses is to create a colonnaded pathway through a series of arches, each of which frames the next in highly effective fashion. Whether it’s stark and modern, emphasising the use of materials such as stone, or is softer and more classical in its use of creepers and plants, the impact is geometrically impressive.

Finally, if you’re not of a shy disposition and really want to make a statement, try large planted trees in oversized pots, perhaps flanked with torches or tasteful sculptures for an added touch of drama upon entering what by now will look like an enticing and interesting home.

 

Get in touch with the La Menara team and explore your ideas with us – you’ll find making them come true is within your reach.