LOCATION Elkhart Lake, Wis.
COMPANY Landmark Landscapes
DETAILS Joe Majerus, owner of Landmark Landscapes, says the two-and-a-half-year journey with this residential property started small, initially getting a call from the caretaker to just replace a few loose bricks in a walkway.
But after doing some research and exploring the property, Majerus saw the potential.
“I just said, ‘Oh my God, we’ve got an ordinary house on an extraordinary lot, and we need to make this better,’” he says. “(The caretaker) got me in touch with the owner, and I laid out a grander vision for the property, and the owner just fell in love with it.”
But even then, the initial plan was small, just updating the lakeside and remodeling the front entrance to the house. But, as the plan unfolded, new projects were continuously added.
Majerus says the house’s front remodeling turned into a complete teardown and rebuild, the lakeside renovations led to a new retaining wall and infinity edge hot tub and, while they were at it, a new guest house was added to the property, but due to local ordinances, the lot had to be subdivided to make it a secondary primary residence.
And one key element bringing it all together was the idea of the golden ratio with the Fibonacci spiral: its main component being a locally sourced limestone centerpiece.
Landmark Landscapes won a gold award from the NALP’s 2024 Awards of Excellence program for this project.
