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Open air 'living rooms' prove a hit with visitors
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Chartwell's island living room
Emmett's turf sofa
KENT NEWS: Visitors at two popular west Kent attractions have been enjoying relaxing in open air ‘living rooms', lounging on sofas made of grass. The National Trust launched the project across its sites to bring indoor comforts into the great outdoors after research found that the average family in the South East spends up to 43 hours a week on their sofa even during the summer.

At Chartwell House in Westerham and Emmetts Garden in Ide Hill, which are both near Sevenoaks, the head gardeners have created two different takes on the concept of outdoor living rooms.

Philippa Rowlinson, general manager at both the sites, told how both designs were already going down well with visitors.

"At Emmetts Mark Nelson created a grass sofa with the help of a group of local volunteers that looks out over Bough Beeches reservoir and offers a fabulous view across the Weald of Kent," she said.

"Giles Palmer at Chartwell came up with something slightly different. We have just opened the island on the lake for the first time in years and there was no garden furniture.

"So they went off to a local charity warehouse and came back with furniture to create a sitting room. They work well with both properties because Emmetts is a big outdoor space and it is made out of natural material.

"Chartwell was Winston Churchill’s family home and we have created a family sitting room."

She added: "They are proving really popular, every time I look across there are people sitting on them."

The trust’s idea for a summer project also originated from the organisation’s founder.

Tony Berry, visitor experience director of the National Trust, explained: "Octavia Hill, founder of the National Trust, wanted to create ‘open-air sitting rooms’ for everyone to enjoy – so it seemed natural to bring this idea to life by creating real ‘living’ rooms for families to enjoy.

"You are never more than 40 minutes away from one of our special places – so enjoy the outdoors with us this summer, and with our grass sofas we have the perfect way to stretch your legs and put your feet up."

The outdoor living rooms were launched on July 23 and will be available until the end of the season during normal opening times.
POSTED: 31/07/2010 17:00:00

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