Summers Place Auctions are the world’s leading auctioneers of Sculpture and Design for the House and Garden. Following restructuring, the department is staffed by a team who, between them, have nearly 200 years of Sotheby’s experience. A minimum of four sales per year which include the best examples of Garden sculpture and decoration as well as Natural History. As world leaders in both fields, over 60% of buyers are from overseas and have a dedicated team dealing with transport and shipping. The extensive 6 acre gardens of Summers Place Auctions originally formed part of the Victorian Manor house, Summers Place. The walled garden was remodelled for Sotheby's in 1987 by the renowned landscape architect Michael Balston whose innovative scheme of meandering paths between "rooms" enclosed by yew hedges has now fully come to maturity. Summers Place Auctions was established in 2007 from Sotheby's Garden Statuary department. Since then the company has embarked on an ambitious expansion programme, starting with the upgrading of the paths and restoring the stone summer house in the arboretum.