Text by Mary Forsell • Styling by Sunday Hendrickson • Photograph by Matthew Millman

Trust your eyes: It’s not a mirage. “We set out to build a typical English Tudor Revival house, the kind that was popular in this country in the 1920s,” says Betty Lee, a garden designer in Palo Alto, California. “But after I read an article on English timber-frame houses, I decided to go for an authentic Elizabethan look.”

   She and her husband, Peter Fortenbaugh, contacted the respected UK company John Nethercott, which specializes in period architectural joinery for castles and historic estates dating from Renaissance times and earlier. He soon arrived on the scene and took measurements for doors, floors, and architectural ornaments—all to be made using real English oak.

   Almost five years later, the illusion is complete. “I’ve had a lot of English visitors stop by,” Betty says, “and they always tell me they feel right at home.

You’d think it would take a lot of land to maintain two knot gardens, a cottage garden, white garden, fruit arbor, fountain area, grass lawn, lap pool, and pond.

   But Betty does it all on a third of an acre. She attributes her knack for gardening in small spaces to her maternal grandfather in Taiwan, where she grew up until age 12. “It inspired me to see how much bounty could come out of three pots in his rooftop garden,” she recalls.

   Of course, the California climate also motivates her to maximize the yard. “No matter what the season, people naturally gravitate outside,” she says. “It stays nice so long, I can even have a child’s birthday party outdoors in February.”

   Still, there’s nothing to compare to spring. When the flowers start bursting into bloom, Betty sets up shop under the fruit tunnel. It might be a buffet for friends or a long table where 3-year-old Pippa, 6-year-old Sam, and 9-year-old Henry can snack and enjoy crafts too messy for indoors.