Tucked into Washington, DC’s urban neighborhood of Cleveland Park is a lush garden oasis. It includes an English-style border overflowing with roses, Lady’s Mantle, Catmint, peonies, and Iris; a magnificent old weeping cherry tree; a swimming pool reminiscent of a New England pond; and beyond it all, a glimpse of the National Cathedral. Designed by landscape architects Scott Fritz and Leslie Gignoux and installed and maintained by Fine Earth Landscape, Inc., the long, narrow lot echoes the homeowner’s favorite vacation spot in Maine. “She wanted it very natural,” says Fritz, “like a Maine landscape.”
At the rear of the lot, a former garage on higher ground is now a writing studio with its own secluded garden. From here, a series of small, cascading ponds flows into the pool. A natural stone path connects the stone terrace at the back of the house to the pool, while another path under the weeping cherry leads to the studio, past colorful plantings and huge rocks that provide picturesque seating. According to Fine Earth’s Joel Hafner, each boulder was strategically placed by the architects in collaboration with the client. Fine Earth took care during construction to preserve the weeping cherry, as well as a weeping Katsura tree up near the house.
AWARD: Distinction, Residential Maintenance. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: Scott Fritz and Leslie Gignoux, Fritz & Gignoux Landscape Architects, Washington, DC. LANDSCAPE INSTALLATION & MAINTENANCE: Joel Hafner, Fine Earth Landscape, Inc., Poolesville, Maryland.
**Out of the array of interior design magazines, Home and Design magazine stands out as a primary idea source for luxury home designs and landscape design ideas. Wonderful visuals of inspired décor and lush landscapes are combined with expert advice to provide a fundamental reference point for bringing amazing home interior design ideas, and outdoor spaces to life.
Whatever it may be called—arbor, colonnade, conservatory, deck, loggia, pergola or pool house—the outdoor structure is a significant component of today’s modern American garden. Outdoor structures can be used as transitions between one part of the garden and another, or they may connect the house to the yard. In the articles that follow, you’ll discover how a simple curving wall can contain a luxurious outdoor retreat that’s used throughout the year. You’ll be intrigued by waterfalls and pools sculpted from a steeply sloping backyard. Talented designers, of course, are key: Their vision can turn the simplest landscape into a practical yet exceedingly stylish haven.
This landscape plan is a very unusual one. The backyard is short and shallow, completely unsuitable for the large entertaining area with swimming pool that the homeowners desired. Pool designer Carrie Luttrell of NVBlu Inc. says the solution was to link a rear patio to the side yard, which was just big enough for an expanded patio and a negative-edge pool suitable both for adults and active children. However, because the yard slopes up toward the street, Luttrell explains, instead of having a negative edge on the far end of the pool that disappears in the distance, the negative edge on this pool serves as a small waterfall that is viewed from the patio entertaining area.
A hydrotherapy spa at one end accommodates eight adults, and it, too, has a waterfall that appears to cascade from the pool into the spa below it. “We wanted to mimic the same negative-edge effect,” says Luttrell. While Luttrell was responsible for the entire design, the patio was installed by Statz Stone and Structure, which also worked with the homeowners on the striking plantings that surround the area and complement the landscape in the distance.
Washington, DC-based Jane Berger is a landscape designer and publisher of GardenDesign Online.com.
DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION: Carrie Luttrell, NVBlu Inc., Chantilly, Virginia.
PATIO INSTALLATION & LANDSCAPING: Statz Stone and Structure, Sterling, Virginia. PHOTOGRAPHY: Morgan Riehl, MAR Photography, St. Kilda, Australia.
Faced with a span of only 15 feet from the kitchen window to the rear property line, most homeowners wouldn’t begin to consider building a backyard entertaining area. But landscape architect Chad Talton of Surrounds says that with just a bit of planning and effort, “you can make any space useful, no matter how big or small it is.” Talton’s McLean, Virginia, clients specified their desire for an outdoor living space, but left most of the other decisions up to him.
In front, Talton designed a formal, elliptical-shaped guest entry of brick and flagstone, flanked by boxwoods. He also integrated a new walkway into the existing drive, which overlooks a neighboring lot; hardscaping complements the Colonial-style house and its quaint, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood. In the backyard, he designed a curved stone wall that warmly embraces the new entertaining area, complete with a built-in grill and fireplace that make it useable year-round. Low retaining walls provide additional seating for guests, and tall conifers screen out neighboring properties. “It was such a small space,” says Talton, “and there was so much going on in it, that it seemed appropriate to use evergreens and other plantings that would add color constantly.”
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: Chad Talton, Surrounds Landscape Architecture and Construction, Sterling, Virginia. PHOTOGRAPHY: Ron Blunt, Washington, DC.
Older gardens can become outmoded quickly; the four-acre property surrounding an 1880s Baltimore home is a case in point. Chapel Valley has been working on this garden for many years, and the company’s designers were called in again after the clients created a new sunroom and an outdoor loggia off the back of the house. The owners realized they needed better circulation routes between the new structures and the existing pool. They entertain frequently and also desired an improved entry that would not ice up during winter.
Chapel Valley landscape architect Jonathan Swanson met their requests with a heated, 2,500-square-foot brick drop-off area near the front of the home. In the backyard, Swanson replaced a brick pool terrace with flagstone and redesigned all the walkways to make circulation a breeze.
Project manager Chris Vedrani says the homeowners now have a private space in back complete with wireless cable, an outdoor TV and a fireplace. Surrounding gardens were replanted with rhododendrons, hydrangeas, viburnums and mountain laurels. “We put in lower plantings,” says Vedrani, “so there is a sight line from the loggia to the pool and the client can keep an eye on her grandchildren.”
LOGGIA ARCHITECTURE: Jeffrey Penza, AIA, Baltimore, Maryland. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: Jonathan Swanson, Chapel Valley, Woodbine, Maryland. PROJECT MANAGER: Chris Vedrani, Chapel Valley. PHOTOGRAPHY: Roger Foley, Arlington, Virginia.
Two years after landscape architect Stephen Wlodarczyk of Botanical Decorators completed a master-plan installation for clients in Darnestown, Maryland, they called him back for an update. The couple entertains a lot and wanted a design for a warm and casual outdoor living area that included a full-service kitchen and fireplace. They also wanted to keep the views open to surrounding meadows and gently rolling hills beyond.
Wlodarczyk decided to locate a sizeable and luxurious pergola—16 by 30 feet—just beyond the swimming pool. This new entertainment center encompasses all of the elements required for the perfect summer soiree: Viking grill and mini-refrigerator, granite countertops, sinks with hot and cold running water, stainless-steel cabinets and drawers, ceiling fans and even a chandelier. A retractable awning by Shade Tree screens the area from midday sun, while a stone fireplace enables the owners and their guests to enjoy the outdoors in any season.
As Wlodarczyk explains, “We had to bridge the gap between a sophisticated adult entertaining space for friends and business associates and a big family-oriented pool area good for children.” The clients, he said, now have everything they need for parties and “a fair amount of luxury in the middle of nature.”
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE & PHOTOGRAPHY: Stephen Wlodarczyk, Botanical Decorators, Olney, Maryland.
Steep slopes often require ingenuity in design, especially when they rise from the back of the house to the rear property line. Homeowners Mark Hinton and Rick Robertson initially installed a 10-thousand gallon koi pond halfway up the slope in their Great Falls, Virginia, backyard, but when it began to leak, they decided they needed to try something completely different.
Their three-acre wooded property is nestled in a natural setting, and they wanted a landscape to blend in with it. “The idea was to put the ultimate in our backyard,” says Hinton, “where we could have our vacation come to us.” Their wish list included a pool, hot tub, waterfalls, a patio and a sizeable garden.
Outdoor Impressions principal Craig Gasiorowski, says Hinton, was the only person who understood what they wanted. Gasiorowski removed truckloads of soil to carve out an area large enough to install the pool at ground level. Now, waterfalls cascade over natural boulders into the hot tub and the pool, and an îpe deck stretches across the back of the house with a screened-in gazebo at one end. Natural stone paths meander through the garden filled with shrub roses, perennials and trees that bloom from spring until fall.
DESIGN: Craig Gasiorowski, Outdoor Impressions, Elkridge, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: Gwin Hunt, Annapolis, Maryland. FURNITURE AROUND POOL: Apartment Zero, Washington, DC.
Good working relationships make all the difference in landscape design, so when Annapolis builder Bret Anderson of Pyramid Builders began work on his own house on the water, he contacted landscape architect Steve McHale, with whom he has worked many times over the years. They collaborated closely on ideas and drawings to bring to life Anderson’s vision of a home that would make him feel like he was on a permanent vacation.
The Southwestern-style house appears to cascade down a slope from foyer to living levels to an outdoor pool and patio, and then to the lawn and the Chesapeake Bay. Conscious of setback and fencing requirements, Anderson and McHale designed a pool that is raised above ground level and looks out over the adjacent water. The pool captures “the beauty of an infinity-edge pool, but it’s much easier to care for and maintain,” says Anderson.
The decking is constructed of carnation rose flagstone from India, selected because it’s cooler to walk on than typical flagstone and its color complements the house. In the front yard, McHale designed two raised planters, painted white, to create “a courtyard feeling,” he explains. Plants, including prickly pears and palms, complete the Southwestern ambience.
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: Steve McHale, McHale Landscape Design, Inc., Upper Marlboro, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: (top) Richard Sweeney , (left) Kevin McHale, McHale Landscape Design, Inc.
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When you think of French gardens, the elements that come to mind are wrought-iron fences, classic fountains, beautiful details and, of course, a place to relax with a glass of wine. Landscape architect Chad Talton of Surrounds Landscape Architecture and Construction immediately noticed the distinct French style of his clients’ house in McLean and decided to incorporate it in his design for the garden.
The existing landscape, put in by the builder, was non-descript and afforded the clients little privacy. The homeowners told Talton they wanted a new deck off the back of the house, an expanded patio area around the existing swimming pool and spa and a welcoming front entry. “The house is really elegant,” says Talton, “so we tried to come up with a design that was really formal and very clean.”
The new deck houses a covered grill area, and is constructed of Procell, a composite material that is maintenance-free. The curvy wrought-iron deck railings are reminiscent of many that you might see in Paris. Surrounds turned to Cardine Studios of Bealeton, Virginia, to design an intricate wrought-iron gate at the top of the spiral stone staircase that leads to the house and the drive.
The garden’s formal limestone fountain was imported from Italy. The copper-roofed outdoor bar designed by Talton houses a sink, a refrigerator and a wine rack for easy poolside entertaining.
Japanese cedars, the main plantings at the far end of the pool, screen the neighboring house, while Japanese maples, a lovely blue Atlas cedar, crape myrtles, boxwoods, flowering shrubs and annuals provide a four-season palette of color, texture and blooms.
AWARD: Grand, Outdoor Living Area. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: Chad Talton, Surrounds Landscape Architecture and Construction, Sterling, Virginia. PHOTOGRAPHY: Ron Blunt.
Gardens go in and out of fashion. When landscape architect Richard Arentz began work on a Northwest DC project several years ago, it was clearly out of date. It had an oddly shaped pool, a large lawn, some statuary and a small fountain. The homeowners told him they wanted an updated, more attractive design that would provide more screening for privacy.
Arentz devised a plan that reflects the Federal style of the house. The former pool was repurposed as the basement of a new conservatory, while a formal fountain with water lilies is now the garden’s central feature. “The fountain really is the garden,” says Arentz. “It draws you out, and there’s a connectivity from the house to the garden that didn’t exist before.” The conservatory, he says, serves as “an outdoor living destination” where the homeowners can enjoy the view year-round.
Ironwood LLC, Arentz’s contracting firm, maintained a high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail on the project. All of the stone in the new fountain and pool garden was cut in France and shipped to the U.S. Ironwood also preserved the property’s magnificent magnolia trees. Boxwoods and a clipped yew hedge lend the garden a formal air, but there’s also a seasonal flowering shrub border and planters with annuals that change with the seasons. The plantings impart “a very edited, tailored feeling,” says Arentz, but the main feature remains the fountain pool, which will never go out of style. “It’s a very formal gesture,” he says, “but if you strip away all the layers, it transcends and becomes a timeless design.”
AWARD: Grand, Total Residential Contracting. CONTRACTOR: Ironwood, LLC, Washington, DC. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE & PHOTOGRAPHY: Richard Arentz, Ironwood, LLC, Washington, DC.
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In Georgetown, Federal style is giving way to the 21st century—at least at an R Street residence that is nearly all glass in front and back. The property now has a contemporary garden to complement its architecture, thanks to landscape designer Brian Hunt of Botanical Decorators.
In a long, narrow space just 36 feet deep and 16 feet wide, Hunt found room for a spa, a dining patio, a walkway from the garage to the house, a tiny lawn and plantings that extend the garden season through the entire year.
Initially, Hunt developed several different designs, honing in on a motif of repeated diamond-shaped forms. “Once we got through a couple of conceptual plans,” he says, “the diamond pattern was really making the space feel large and it worked with the lines of the house.”
Botanical Decorators tucked in a spa at ground level near the basement-level lanai for easy access year-round. A diamond-shaped patio is constructed of thermal Pennsylvania bluestone, flame-torched to give it a smooth finish. A small diamond-shaped lawn repeats the theme, while a water feature is the focal point at the garden’s rear.
A fence in the same Masonite material used on the house creates the feel of a modern courtyard. Trees were planted in neighbors’ yards (with their agreement) to benefit all three properties. A rear grove of cherry trees screens the garage and alley on one side, while birch trees block the view between adjoining properties on the other. Triangular planting beds contain a PeeGee hydrangea, Sky Pencil hollies, cherry laurels and perennials. There’s even a dogwood that’s a harbinger of the Georgetown spring.
AWARD: Grand, Outdoor Living Area. DESIGN: Brian Hunt, Botanical Decorators, Olney, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: Botanical Decorators.
Small yards often require ingenious design because there’s little space for all of the components a client wants. When the owners of a Bethesda residence called McHale Landscape Design, Inc., to overhaul their modest property with its unassuming landscaping, they asked designer Carolyn Mullet to plan “a garden they could live in” that included a spa, a swimming pool and more inviting plantings.
In front, Mullet designed a granite-edged parking area and a new front walk and added plantings for year-round interest. Now, a Sweetbay magnolia graces the front entrance, winter-blooming jasmine spills over a front wall and hydrangeas and spirea bloom away all summer.
The major challenge was finding room for everything the clients wanted in the 35-by-60-foot back yard. Mullet removed a large second-story deck and replaced it with a balcony where the owners can enjoy their morning coffee. A stairway leads down from it to the patio below. There was enough space left for a 22-by-10-foot lap pool with a spa and waterfall. The pool is flanked on one end by a white crape myrtle and on the other by Japanese snowbells which screen out neighboring properties. A shower and changing room were built under the stairway.
“We took a space that was unappealing,” says Mullet, “and we made it into a place that gives them the exercise they want, that looks beautiful from the house, and gives them a place to have dinner and socialize.” Big, bold plantings around the pool, including drifts of black-eyed Susans, Sum & Substance hostas, Arena lilies and Winterthur viburnums, lend the back yard a modern look as well as a sense of drama.
AWARD: Grand, Total Residential Contracting. DESIGN & PHOTOGRAPHY: Carolyn Mullet, McHale Landscape Design, Inc., Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
Garden trends are shifting as homeowners become more discriminating about their choices of materials and plantings. Almost everyone now wants an outdoor “room” instead of a simple garden with handsome plantings, and today’s outdoor spaces nearly always include special features that extend the garden’s season.
On the pages that follow, you’ll see five elegant gardens that were among the winners of the 2008 “Excellence in Landscape” awards sponsored by the Landscape Contractors Association (LCA) of Maryland, DC and Virginia. A tiny garden on R Street in Georgetown features a heated spa that can be used year-round. A garden conservatory in Northwest DC is outfitted with a fireplace that makes it cozy in winter and air-conditioning that keeps it cool in summer.
Landscape architect Chad Talton of Surrounds Landscape Architecture and Construction designed a garden in McLean that includes a shady area underneath a spacious deck and a separate poolside bar with a built-in wine rack, counter space, refrigerator and sink. “Across the board,” he says, “most people ask for an outdoor grill area. And a lot of them ask for outdoor structures, whether it’s an arbor, a pergola or a pool house.”
Designer Brian Hunt of Botanical Decorators agrees. “A real trend these days is an outdoor fireplace,” Hunt says, “and more homeowners are asking for landscape lighting.”
At Fine Earth Landscape, Inc., designer Joel Hafner sees more requests for specific materials and styles. The ubiquitous azalea, he says, is “a dying breed,” because clients have decided that they don’t like the look of them after their brief bloom in spring. “We get a lot of requests for cut-flower gardens and hydrangeas,” says Hafner, gardens with “an English feeling.” Others ask for in-ground trampolines and paving materials that stay cooler than bluestone, he says.
Luckily, local landscape professionals are staying ahead of the curve and meeting their clients’ needs in style, as you’ll discover in the award-winning gardens on the following pages.
Jane Berger is a Washington, DC-based landscape designer and publisher of GardenDesign Online.com.
AUTHOR: Jane Berger is a Washington, DC-based landscape designer and publisher of GardenDesign Online.com. AWARD: This Baltimore garden by Chapel Valley Landscape Company won two LCA awards.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Roger Foley.
When you think of French gardens, the elements that come to mind are wrought-iron fences, classic fountains, beautiful details and, of course, a place to relax with a glass of wine. Landscape architect Chad Talton of Surrounds Landscape Architecture and Construction immediately noticed the distinct French style of his clients’ house in McLean and decided to incorporate it in his design for the garden.
The existing landscape, put in by the builder, was non-descript and afforded the clients little privacy. The homeowners told Talton they wanted a new deck off the back of the house, an expanded patio area around the existing swimming pool and spa and a welcoming front entry. “The house is really elegant,” says Talton, “so we tried to come up with a design that was really formal and very clean.”
The new deck houses a covered grill area, and is constructed of Procell, a composite material that is maintenance-free. The curvy wrought-iron deck railings are reminiscent of many that you might see in Paris. Surrounds turned to Cardine Studios of Bealeton, Virginia, to design an intricate wrought-iron gate at the top of the spiral stone staircase that leads to the house and the drive.
The garden’s formal limestone fountain was imported from Italy. The copper-roofed outdoor bar designed by Talton houses a sink, a refrigerator and a wine rack for easy poolside entertaining.
Japanese cedars, the main plantings at the far end of the pool, screen the neighboring house, while Japanese maples, a lovely blue Atlas cedar, crape myrtles, boxwoods, flowering shrubs and annuals provide a four-season palette of color, texture and blooms.
AWARD: Grand, Outdoor Living Area. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: Chad Talton, Surrounds Landscape Architecture and Construction, Sterling, Virginia. PHOTOGRAPHY: Ron Blunt.
Gardens go in and out of fashion. When landscape architect Richard Arentz began work on a Northwest DC project several years ago, it was clearly out of date. It had an oddly shaped pool, a large lawn, some statuary and a small fountain. The homeowners told him they wanted an updated, more attractive design that would provide more screening for privacy.
Arentz devised a plan that reflects the Federal style of the house. The former pool was repurposed as the basement of a new conservatory, while a formal fountain with water lilies is now the garden’s central feature. “The fountain really is the garden,” says Arentz. “It draws you out, and there’s a connectivity from the house to the garden that didn’t exist before.” The conservatory, he says, serves as “an outdoor living destination” where the homeowners can enjoy the view year-round.
Ironwood LLC, Arentz’s contracting firm, maintained a high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail on the project. All of the stone in the new fountain and pool garden was cut in France and shipped to the U.S. Ironwood also preserved the property’s magnificent magnolia trees. Boxwoods and a clipped yew hedge lend the garden a formal air, but there’s also a seasonal flowering shrub border and planters with annuals that change with the seasons. The plantings impart “a very edited, tailored feeling,” says Arentz, but the main feature remains the fountain pool, which will never go out of style. “It’s a very formal gesture,” he says, “but if you strip away all the layers, it transcends and becomes a timeless design.”
AWARD: Grand, Total Residential Contracting. CONTRACTOR: Ironwood, LLC, Washington, DC. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE & PHOTOGRAPHY: Richard Arentz, Ironwood, LLC, Washington, DC.
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In Georgetown, Federal style is giving way to the 21st century—at least at an R Street residence that is nearly all glass in front and back. The property now has a contemporary garden to complement its architecture, thanks to landscape designer Brian Hahn of Botanical Decorators.
In a long, narrow space just 36 feet deep and 16 feet wide, Hahn found room for a spa, a dining patio, a walkway from the garage to the house, a tiny lawn and plantings that extend the garden season through the entire year.
Initially, Hahn developed several different designs, honing in on a motif of repeated diamond-shaped forms. “Once we got through a couple of conceptual plans,” he says, “the diamond pattern was really making the space feel large and it worked with the lines of the house.”
Botanical Decorators tucked in a spa at ground level near the basement-level lanai for easy access year-round. A diamond-shaped patio is constructed of thermal Pennsylvania bluestone, flame-torched to give it a smooth finish. A small diamond-shaped lawn repeats the theme, while a water feature is the focal point at the garden’s rear.
A fence in the same Masonite material used on the house creates the feel of a modern courtyard. Trees were planted in neighbors’ yards (with their agreement) to benefit all three properties. A rear grove of cherry trees screens the garage and alley on one side, while birch trees block the view between adjoining properties on the other. Triangular planting beds contain a PeeGee hydrangea, Sky Pencil hollies, cherry laurels and perennials. There’s even a dogwood that’s a harbinger of the Georgetown spring.
AWARD: Grand, Outdoor Living Area. DESIGN: Brian Hahn, Botanical Decorators, Olney, Maryland. PHOTOGRAPHY: Botanical Decorators.
