This garden is just as spectacular as its vistas of Peconic Bay. Landscape architect Edmund Hollander brought together the home’s architect, stonemason, and his client to collaborate on the design, one that judge Jennifer Post says “is like an extension of the home—a stellar example of a minimal, modern garden.”
A sunken courtyard with a moss- and fern-covered wall, and an entrancing labyrinth.
Landscape elements include a reflecting pool that serves as a water source and cascades over a retaining wall.
Landscape architect Edmund Hollander brought together the home’s architect, stonemason, and his client to collaborate on the design.
Judge Jennifer Post says “is like an extension of the home—a stellar example of a minimal, modern garden.”
Designer Chris LaGuardia decided to preserve a fallow farm field on this property in Water Mill as an integral component of his landscape design, so part of the plan involved letting nature do the gardening.
LaGuardia provides balance with a precise modernist landscape, including tight architectural grass slopes set with minimalist cast-concrete steps, a striking arbor, and a black-mirror pool. “The spaces seem gallery-like—clean, light, and roomy,” says judge Mario Nievera.
The yield: a thicket of eastern red cedar, black cherry, bayberry, little bluestem, and switchgrass.
This decidedly contemporary house appears to occupy a site at the edge of a forest along Jones Creek, a tributary of Georgica Pond. The intention of Oehme, van Sweden & Associates was to fashion a series of outdoor garden rooms, as if they are adjuncts to the extant forest. Trees screen the residence from the road, and an elegant gravel courtyard and stone terrace were installed for more definition. Judge Paul Goldberger says the designers pulled off a garden that is “handsome, varied, and lush, yet never pretentious.”
For a backyard retreat in Quogue, the designers at Pembrooke transformed two storage sheds into handsome faux pool houses. The covered pergola that now links the structures serves as a sheltered outdoor entertaining area, while a Jacuzzi spa further underscores the symmetry of the two buildings. “The spa and pool are very pure,” says judge Jennifer Post, “and I love how the trees hug the property.”
The intention for this backyard retreat was that it feel Zen-like and removed from neighboring houses. “Everything looks like it has been there for years,” notes Jennifer Post. The owner of this garden especially likes to visit the “thinking rock,” a meditation seat overlooking a new lagoon-style pool.
