Day: June 11, 2018

Eclipse Tiny Place – click any image for full size

Update: Eclipse Tiny Place has closed. SLurls have therefore been removed from this article.

It’s the kind of place brought to mind when visiting Eclipse Tiny Place, a superbly designed 1/6 of a full region offered for public consumption by Lagoa. Despite its size – under 11,000 square metres, this is a parcel that offers almost something of everything for people to enjoy.

Occupying the north-east corner of the region on which it sits, the parcel is open to the sea on two sides, looking over a broad ribbon of sand arcing around the parcel and onto open waters. The remaining two sides of the land are backed by high cliffs which help create the feeling that this is a location isolated from the rest of the world. Water tumbles from the corner meeting-point of these two rocky walls, cascading in steps into a pool of clear blue water, a broad swathe of which runs north to slip under a rocky arc to the sea.

Eclipse Tiny Place

Two islands sit within this channel, each ringed by hedgerows. One is circular and home to an orangery, the other an oval on which sits a tree house – in the most literal sense of the word, the front door being in the trunk of the tree itself. Bridges link these islands one to another and with the rest of the parcel, providing a means for explorers to reach all parts of the parcel that may interest them.

Set out across the rest of the land are as series of garden areas laid out around a house. Paths segregate the various parts of the gardens and offer routes to a pavilion sitting at the southern end of the parcel, separated from the beach by tiered walls of floors.

Eclipse Tiny Place

To try to describe this parcel in all its beauty would be an understatement so much has been packed into it – and not just haphazardly; the design and placement of gardens, trees, seating areas, event spaces, buildings, has all been carried out almost flawlessly, making Eclipse Tiny Place the kind of place where visitors genuinely want to spend time. To help with this, throughout the parcel there are many places to sit and enjoy the setting.

Art is also very much in evidence here, from the water-like garden of the tree house to the ruler-straight hedgerows separating the gardens from the sands of the northern beach or the dragons guarding the pavilion mentioned earlier.

Eclipse Tiny Place

There are one or two little incongruities to be found: there is no direct path to the beach; instead, visitors have to scramble through hedgerows or climb over walls to reach the sand and the places people might as sit scattered along it. The local waterfowl are also perhaps on the large size 🙂 . A little more depth might also be added through the addition of an ambient sound scape. However, these are minor points.

Even without ambient sounds, there is a depth to Eclipse Tiny Place that really is astonishing. It is another tour de force of what can be done within a relatively small space (although admittedly, the full region on which Eclipse Tiny Place sits does make use of the full 30K LI available to private regions). As such, a visit and spending time exploring is highly recommended.

Eclipse Tiny Place

When visiting, don’t miss the little island floating overhead and the hot air balloon sitting offshore. And should you appreciate your time spent within the parcel, do please consider making a donation towards its upkeep and availability through one of the donation points somewhat cleverly described as food within the gardens and buildings.  And, for those who take photos of their visit, there is also the opportunity to share them via the Eclipse Tiny Place Flickr group.

SLurl Details

• Eclipse Tiny Place (Lombard Park, rated: Moderate)