Quality Columns make a big difference to Homes and Gardens

Columns are not always an obvious choice for homes and gardens, but they can add a significant difference and are more versatile than you’d think. Columns supporting a portico or porch can transform an entrance, or create an elegant cover above french or bi-folding doors leading out onto a patio. Columns look spectacular in gardens as a central focal point, in a wide range of ways from garden follies to trellises. However, it is important to remember that not all columns are made in the same way and this can affect the finish. Read our blog to discover how to get quality columns that add elegance and style to your property.

Perfect Porticos

Porticos add style and function to your entrance. If your front door is not at the center of your building you can make it the main attraction by drawing the eye to it with a portico. Never buy a portico off the peg. It is important to have it made in proportion to the rest of your building. If it is too large it will look unbalanced and one that is too small will look puny and be a waste of your investment.  Our team size each one individually and provide free CAD drawings.

Chilstone’s handmade columns can be painted or colour matched to blend with the rest of your property.

The other important consideration for porticos is the columns. Some companies make columns in sections and extend the size by adding more sections that are cemented together. If this is not done carefully it can create ugly join lines and the mortar can run and stain if not lined up perfectly. Remember that people will walk in close proximity to your portico columns and if you want to make the best impression you want a high quality, smooth finish. We make our columns by hand in one continuous piece where possible so there are no ugly join lines. Our very largest columns are made in sections due to weight and installation restrictions, but we can recommend some skilled trades people who are experts are working with our products.

A well designed portico makes a feature of your main entrance.

Sleek, smooth columns make a beautiful entrances you can be proud of when you greet your guests. They give a family home a welcoming frame that you can use to anchor your lighting and planting scheme around.

Machine made, off the peg columns have ugly join lines, which is why we hand make ours to order in one continuous piece, for the best quality finish. Shown here with our contemporary planters.

Not just for Porticos!

Our columns are not just for traditional porticos! This house uses columns to support a long, permanent awning that looks beautiful and shelters french doors that open onto a patio and terrace, so the residents can enjoy the space in all weathers. The columns are evenly balanced to support the structure and frame the french doors.

Chilstone ball finials finish off the walls on either side of the staircase that leads up to a patio covered by a columned awning.

Columns don’t have to be round

Columns can be fluted to create a period style feature or they can be very modern and rectangular. They aren’t limited to just supporting property features as shown in a garden designed by Jack Dunckley using our handmade columns at the RHS Hampton Court Flower show. These columns with matching lintels make a contemporary design feature that adds a striking contrast to the planting scheme.

Rectangular columns handmade by Chilstone featured in a garden designed by Jack Dunckley at RHS Hampton Court Flower Show.

Garden Follies

Columns are also the major feature in garden pavilions or follies. From private gardens to wedding venues and estates these make a beautiful focal point. There are many shapes and styles to suit your gardens. Go for Regency detailing for a Bridgerton inspired look or go classical with a traditional Doric temple.

Our stonework is handmade to allow us to create detailed features.

Our Ionic temples are also popular with hotels and venues as the solid roof and size makes them fit the legal requirements for wedding ceremonies and they double up as a beautiful bandstand for receptions and garden parties.  The columns can be decorated with flowers or bunting to match the theme of your event, or planted with fragrant jasmine or roses to make a sensory garden.

Chilstone Doric Temple in a landscaped garden designed by Ali Dempster at the Spa Hotel in Tunbridge Wells.

Garden Columns for Blooming Walkways

With a little imagination columns can make a magnificent addition to your garden, they can form a skeleton framework to support an ambitious planting scheme. The Barakura Gardens in Japan ordered many of our columns to do this. They created a glorious feature walkway. It didn’t look magnificent at first but as the plants grew and wrapped around the columns they created a pathway of blooms. Unlike a wooden trellis, cast stone is enduring and won’t rot so this structure will stand for years to come.

Chilstone columns are the skeleton to support the Barakura Garden‘s opulent garden planting in Japan.

These pink, climbing roses look so spectacular, beautifully supported by our handmade columns. And when visitors stop to smell the blooms they will notice how sleek and elegant the columns are, which is why we make our most popular Doric columns in one piece by hand, so the beauty is not interrupted with join lines. The details make the difference!

The finished design in bloom at the wonderful Barakura Garden in Japan

Here to help

For free CAD drawings and advice please call our helpful team seven days a week. We make our columns and all our cast stone entirely by hand, the same we always have for almost 70 years in Britain.

All of Chilstone’s cast stone products are made entirely by hand in our Kent workshop.