“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more exciting Manhattan terrace,” judge Ellie Cullman says of this Upper West Side penthouse.
The rooftop was reworked to include a waterfall accent wall, metal planters that conceal a safety fence, and an alternating path of limestone and Astroturf that visually breaks up the long, narrow space.
Judge Matthew Patrick Smyth deems it “inviting anytime, day or night.”
For a 1920s Sears kit house in Bedford, Elizabeth Ward created a series of engaging outdoor rooms.
“I love this gentle country garden, with its white picket fence and pastel palette,” says Cullman.
Judge Ippolita Rostagno describes it as “super charming and colorful.”
Edmund Hollander divided the terrace of an Upper West Side apartment into three distinct spaces—a dining area, a lounge that’s raised to maximize views, and an intimate conversation nook hidden behind latticework panels and a pergola—to provide flexibility for gatherings of four to 24 people. Cullman picks up on “a real California vibe, which is so exciting in the middle of Manhattan.”
To overhaul a tired and overgrown four-acre property on Pound Ridge’s Blue Heron Lake, Louis Fusco Landscape Architects pruned back unruly vegetation, replaced a manicured lawn with a wildflower meadow, and planted native wetland specimens near the shore. Mission accomplished, says judge Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz: “The garden seems so natural that it doesn’t even look planted.”
The firm reimagined a garden in Purchase by expanding the lawn, opening up sight lines, incorporating plantings of varied textures and shapes, and linking the pool, spa, and outdoor living area with a series of walkways. The result is “no-nonsense formality that’s simple and elegant,” says Smyth.