Lawn rugs furnished with irrigation misters were designed into the pool patio to create a cool spot for hot feet.
The homeowners value their privacy, so the overall design includes ten 12-ft. evergreen trees, 600-plus boxwoods and a 250-ft. stone wall.
The granite cobble driveway transitions to Merrimac gravel. The fence, gate and masonry columns and walls were designed to relate to details on the house exterior.
The gravel driveway weaves through 2 acres of front yard for dramatic views to the house. It’s asphalt with tar slurry, which helps keep the gravel in place.
The driveway was installed in stages, so on-site parking and deliveries would have minimal impact on the mature trees’ root zones.
The homeowners do not like to use a lot of flowering shrubs or trees, so the team focused on textures and forms.
The driveway ends at a granite cobble banded courtyard. The planting beds are raised using bluestone curbing, which helps reinforce the grand entrance.
Stone walls and fencing transition to a wood fence or a black chain-link. They are screened by viburnum and dogwoods to help contain the homeowners’ active dogs.
To avoid soil compaction, the team worked with the general contractor to ensure house construction debris was contained and removed when possible.
A bluestone walk meanders from the garage court through the dog yard to a formal garden. The garden was designed on axis with the garden gate and kitchen windows.
The casual bluestone walk transitions to lighter-colored Valders stone surrounding the pool deck (for ease on bare feet).
The pool shell was poured along with the house foundation to minimize heavy equipment traffic. The shell had to be at the correct elevation to work with the site drainage.
Lawn rugs furnished with irrigation misters were designed into the pool patio to create a cool spot for hot feet.
The pool steps on axis with the pool cabana enter into the shaded side yard. Curvy bedlines are designed with vinca, pachysandra, hosta and compact forms of viburnum.
The beds are accentuated with loose sheared boxwood hedges; they finish at the masonry gate that leads down the ravine.
On axis with the pool, a bluestone outlook to the lake was lowered so the sight line from pool to lake would not be obscured.
THE DETAILS: “We refer to this as the ‘Dream Project’ because of the scale and attention to detail the team and homeowner had during the development of the project,”says James Martin Associates designer Brian Jordison.
It started as a clean slate—an empty, landlocked 5-acre lot only accessible by a 12-foot-wide driveway easement 200 feet from the street. During the house construction, most vehicles used the open lawn for parking. The installation of nearly 1,000 feet of granite curbing and the restoration of the front lawn meant construction parking became limited. Careful delivery staging was required.
Having worked together twice before, the homeowner trusted the design team.
Jordison concludes: “Whenever you can work with clients who are open-minded and trusting of your ideas, the end result will be something that will create fond memories.”
