Client:

Private Residence

Contractor:

Mariani Landscape

Consultants:

Masonry by Fernando, S.H. Bertucci

Category:

Residential Design

In the northern suburb of Lake Forest, an old farm has been restored, and its ten-acres of land transformed. For years, the home at Old Mill Farm sat vacant and the property, which is adjacent to a public prairie preserve, unkempt. After years of carefully restoring the interior and exterior of the original Tudor residence, the owners turned their attention to the outdoor spaces. The home-owner, who is involved in the green industry, envisioned gardens where one could experiment with horticulture and plant design as well as environmentally friendly maintenance practices.

A series of garden rooms were developed to address these and other family needs, including a potager garden for organic vegetables, an orchard for organic fruit, a butterfly garden and pool and dining areas. The pool features a black bottom so the water reflects the open Midwestern skies, with a patio surrounded by lawn panels that lend themselves to overflow seating. Five acres along the edge of the property were restored as prairie to lower maintenance costs and gracefully blend into the public grassland preserve that borders Old Mill Farm. The crossover from prairie to finished lawn is softened by a depressed transitional meadow.

For this expansive project, the landscape architect assembled and supervised a team of subcontractors, including carpenters, masons, arborists and a pool specialist. A horticulturalist was also consulted to introduce many textural plants, such as cardoons. The potager garden is filled with unusual vegetables. Alive with color and texture, it opens out to the main lawn with an arbor whose high pitch complements the steep lines of the mock Tudor roof.