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This winning project was such fun. First, the clients are amazingly lovely people with a great sense of style. They wanted a modern landscape that balanced great design with functional family spaces. As the only modern home in a Mediterranian-style community, we also needed to balance their modern style with the much more traditional community design guidelines.
The resulting design flows naturally with the rolling terrain of the site, yet is organized into specific areas for the family’s indoor/outdoor lifestyle. The careful balance between organic, free-form design and well-organized modern elements created a naturally simple, Japanese-influenced landscape.
Design cues from artists such as Isamu Noguchi and Richard Serra helped provide inspiration for the design. The intermixing of Japanese design elements and the bold use of raw materials such as Cor-ten steel helped create a harmonious blend for a new modernist landscape.
You enter the property from the public street on the east side of the property. A grove of coastal redwoods and large mature oak trees creates a natural privacy buffer from the neighboring homes. This area is cool, shady and moist, which is completely opposite of the west side of the property. To create a modern juxtaposition to the natural woodland feel, swaths of grasses and ferns are under planted in an organized grid pattern.
Visitors walk through this wooded hillside to emerge onto an expansive entry patio with views through the glass-walled home to the landscape beyond. Cor-ten planters help define the space and become a consistent design element to be found in the home’s interior and again in the back yard.
The west side of the property is sunny and warm so the house opens entirely into the yard. The new design maximizes the opportunities for indoor/outdoor living. Areas were specifically designated for the family’s recreation, relaxation and entertainment. Privacy was created while maintaining their panoramic view. Finally, a fire safety zone was developed to buffer the property from an adjacent dry, native open-space area – no small issue in an area that has been devastated by multiple large wildfires in recent years.
To promote water conservation, select mature plants with higher water requirements were relocated from elsewhere on the site to the moist, shady woodland on the entry-side of the property. In addition, the new design removed large areas of turf and water-loving plants and replaced them with native plants, large redwood bark, pea gravel, stone paving or succulents.
At the rear edge of the property, a custom 36-foot long cor-ten steel planter was installed to block the roof-top view of the house directly below. This large element draws your eye to the panoramic view beyond. In the foreground, a sculptural banzai pine tree and polished granite slab play off of each other and use the steel planter as a backdrop.
The client requested interest-gardens where children could play and explore; a Japanese koi pond for meditation and self reflection; as well as an area for yoga. The large carpet of spongy zoysia grass was created specifically for yoga use. The simple rectangular pool/spa and fountain area were situated near the master bedroom and main living areas so adult supervision is always present. The yard design creates natural play areas for children without the use of play equipment. A lone boulder in a sea of grass becomes and island for children to conquer. Adjacent to the children’s rooms is a grid of blue oat grass and a curvaceous, Noguchi-inspired succulent garden which encourages children’s exploration and imagination to run wild.
This project was a very delicate balancing act between the client’s needs, the client’s budget, the strict regulations the HOA design guidelines, the architecture, the site itself and its natural surroundings. Since the completion of the project the clients are enjoying their southern California indoor/outdoor lifestyle on a daily basis and that truly was the main objective.
For more information on Grounded’s landscape design services, contact Rich at 760-518-7106 or email him via rich[at]grounded101.com.
