Nearby dunes and farmland inspired this Amagansett residence’s lush grounds, which feature a sunken courtyard, a series of garden rooms, a pool terrace with a kitchen and dining pavilions, and a collection of contemporary sculptures.
Sustainably designed—it’s planted with mostly native and adapted species—the garden doubles as a bio-retention area, capturing rainwater and directing it through a bioswale, nearly eliminating runoff.
“Every inch of the property is used to its fullest advantage,” says judge Mara Miller.
The manicured grounds of this Bridgehampton home comprise a large lawn bordered by gravel paths, boxwood, lavender, perennials, and horse chestnut trees, plus a sunken garden near the pool that includes a bosk of London plane trees—an ideal shady spot for entertaining. Even the pool is meant to function as a water feature within the landscape. Judge Matthew Patrick Smyth praises how this “classic design approach avoids being predictable.”
A young family’s mandate for the renovation of its Sagaponack property: Maintain the pastoral characteristics of the site, a onetime farm with a new main house, a rebuilt barn, and informal grounds that include vegetable and butterfly gardens, an orchard, a wildflower meadow, and a cutting garden.
Judge Roger Ferris notes that “the simple, unrestrained landscape complements the structures,” while judge Jesse Carrier says he feels “right at home here—it’s practically perfect!”
