It’s not very common for Manhattanites to mine their kitchen gardens for sage, rosemary, or thyme. But the client of this Upper West Side penthouse is now able to do exactly that, thanks to the work of Emerging Growth Landscapes. This small one-bedroom apartment now features an 800-square-foot outdoor living space defined by two aluminum arbors, planters that function as a kind of visual art, and various irrigation and lighting systems. The judges were unanimous in their enthusiasm, calling the finished terrace “careful and pretty,” “the ideal New York City rooftop,” and “very professional.”
Great vistas in New York often come with great noise. The terrace of this new building on the busy corner of 14th Street and Third Avenue takes in views to the north of the Empire State and Chrysler buildings, south to the new Freedom Tower, and, across the street, the Con Edison Building. According to designer Christopher Myers, “The client wanted a lush and colorful garden with a metropolitan feel. His interiors are timeless yet modern, lavish and eclectic, so I suggested a 1940s skyscraper garden.” Obelisks, which double as fountains that feed a bronze trough, are key visual elements and soften the roar of the city, along with a pair of period-style club chairs.
Sometimes you just can’t compete with the view—in this case, the Hudson River backdrop of this garden in Croton-on-Hudson. Yet the designers managed to fashion a series of outdoor rooms so evocative and distinctive that to walk the grounds is to embark on a kind of “journey,” as landscape designer Jan Johnsen explains. “Each area is somewhat screened from view,” she says, “so that visitors discover new areas as they walk through the property.” She and her team positioned the minimalist pool in line with the river and created a two-level area and niche for furniture, a solution judge Carl D’Aquino describes as a “sympathetic response to the architecture and setting.”