"TickleTank" is a house and garden in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. It is owned by Hills Artist Irene Stone Pearce. To visit Tickle Tank is a wonderful and uplifting, joyous adventure. Irene has managed to create from a tiny block of land a delightful fantasy land consisting of plants, mosaics, sculpture, stairs, hidden rooms and surprises around every corner.

Irene opens her house and garden once a year as part of the Open Garden Scheme. The garden is only 12 years old but looks as if it has been there for centuries. Amazingly the house is built in and around an old 50,000 gallon concrete rainwater tank which was converted onsite. More tanks were added to create rooms, holes cut in for doorways and windows, decks and mezzanine floors added. The garden was built around this by excavating and building bridges, pathways, seats, walls and sculptures.









Irene calls it a work in progress, and what a sublimely beautiful work of living art it is. Irene has created "garden rooms' skillfully and beautifully and sees the garden as an extension of the house - not something that is separate. Irene is a master at creating "vignettes" or what she calls small "still lifes" - they are everywhere inside and out.

Most of the materials in the house and garden are salvaged, recycled and found materials. Since my visit their last year she has added a wonderful mosaic pebbled driveway. I cant wait too see how it develops and changes in future years.