Garden Design
Winner: Carol Orr Landscape Design
Although seven individual gardens are configured along the spine of this Essex property—all the way to edge of the Connecticut River—their designer, Carol Orr, prefers to refer to the sequence not as “a pathway, but as a journey.” She adds, “Being able to design seven intricate gardens with one-of-kind materials is a designer’s dream, and, fabulously, the clients’ design sense mirrored our own design style.”
Over a period of seven years, Orr created the series of outdoor rooms, each imbued with its own personality and function. Closest to the house lies the Secret Garden, with its bluestone patio covered with a canopy of dogwood. The sunny east side of the property was reserved for the Rose Garden, adjacent to which is the Auto Court Garden encircled with yews and hollies. An Urn Garden features a trompe l’oeil screen to foster the illusion of depth, while the Loft Garden serves as a landing for guests in a second-floor bedroom suite.
Both the designer and homeowner continue to populate the gardens with statuary and artifacts, an assemblage so alluring that people are naturally drawn to its river endpoint.
Finalist: James Doyle Design Associates
When planning garden areas for a Greenwich house, the designers had to be cognizant of both preserving existing elements while creating new ones. This thoroughly modern residence stands out on its two-acre site as an architectural presence, but it adjoins protected wetlands that could be only minimally modified. The designers connected the house to its unique site via a bridge, the aim being to preserve natural outcroppings, mature trees and the undulating topography, while integrating the bold architecture with nature.
A zinc wall links the front and rear landscapes, while a variety of plantings are used to visually extend that wall further into the property. To create a sunken parking courtyard, the designers leveled out the grade and clad the retaining wall in a handsome bluestone, while planting a variety of sculptural trees, including ginkgoes and catalpas.
At the rear of the house, glass doors open to a hardwood deck, linked visually to the lawn with a bluestone slab. A swimming pool occupies a discreet site near a rock outcrop, with its surrounding plants chosen for their color and textures and seasonal interest.
Finalist: Devore Associates Landscape Architects
A 1930s French Country–style home set on six acres warranted a garden and landscape that would complement its architecture. A new sinuous entrance approach, parking courts, series of terraces, and a swimming pool were carefully “grown” into the site.
At the rear of the house, a sitting terrace, dining terrace and covered outdoor fireplace now follow a linear route. Here and elsewhere, structured plantings are combined with overflowing softer treatments to create an overall relaxed feel to the property. A vegetable and flower garden below the main terrace is edged in wattle.
The periphery of the property is planted with native plants that both screen and frame bucolic views. Invasive plants that had taken over areas were removed and replaced with native grasses and colorful wildflowers. Two restored native meadows are now home to a diverse habitat, through which have been mown inviting pathways. A neglected stream was revitalized and has since become a favorite place for the three children of the family to catch frogs and sail their toy boats.
