Client:

Private Residence

Contractor:

Mariani Landscape

Category:

Residential Design

The owners of this suburban property have young children and requested a whimsical landscape that would facilitate family fun. Time was of the essence as well, as a wedding was scheduled at the site in just 11 months, half the time normally required for a project of this scale. The landscape architects were also challenged to balance out the massive three-story home that dwarfed its outdoor space.

Today, three large Kentucky coffee trees provide scale and dappled shade for the residence’s courtyard. Large, solid-slab stone steps line a grand stairway that connects this upper terrace to the pool, while a round overlook echoes a circular turret on the residence and provides views across the entire garden. Following the stairs, a water rill cascades down and into the spa below, at pool level. The pool area features a two-story water slide and a pergola-covered entertaining space replete with a wood-fired pizza oven. A hedged garden room is visible nearby, overflowing with flowers and centered by a water fountain. In a front courtyard, children can explore a boxwood maze along with a curvilinear stone wall that appears and disappears near the property’s woodland edge. The ensemble invites an Alice in Wonderland feel - precisely what the clients desired.