We Designthe OutsideLike It'sthe Inside.
Stone terraces that age into the hillside. Planting schemes that peak in every season. Hand-drawn site plans that become living rooms without ceilings.
Selected Projects
The Kellerman Garden
Montecito, California
I started with the wall — a crumbling stucco boundary that felt like an apology. We rebuilt it in reclaimed limestone and let the planting spill over the edges as if it had always grown there. The water rill came last, not as a feature, but as punctuation.
The Osterberg Grounds
Sonoma County, California
The slope was fighting us until we decided to let it win. Three terraces cut into the hill with dry-stacked basalt — each one a room at a different elevation. The olives aren't decorative; they're part of the working farm the owners wanted to inherit.
The Harlow Quarter
Hudson Valley, New York
The developer asked for something that would sell units. We designed something that would keep people outside after they moved in. The corten fire pit is the anchor — everything else is drawn toward it, paths converging like sentences toward a period.
Every stone placed by someone who cared about its shadow.
We begin with the site as it is — not as a problem to be solved, but as a conversation to be continued. The soil pH, the prevailing light, the way water pools after rain. These aren't obstacles. They're the brief.
Our drawings are done by hand before they're ever translated to CAD. There's a reason for that: the pencil forces you to think through the consequences of every decision before the first stone is moved.
Soil First
We test before we plant. A garden built on understanding its ground lasts decades. One built on assumption is a contractor's return visit.
Shadow as Material
We trace the sun's path in April and October before we place a single pergola post. Light is the most expensive material on a project and the one most often wasted.
Age Into It
We choose materials that improve with weathering — corten, limestone, gravel. In ten years, your garden should look like it was always there.
From Sketch to Stone
A process refined over 140 completed gardens. No phase is rushed. No detail is delegated.
Site Reading
We walk the land before we measure it. Soil type, drainage patterns, existing trees worth keeping — the site tells us more than any brief.
Hand-Drawn Plans
Every scheme starts on paper. The pencil forces decisions that software lets you defer. We draw it by hand until it's right, then we commit.
Material Selection
Supervised Build
We stay on site during critical phases. The difference between a good garden and a great one is usually made in the first week of groundwork.
Planting & Handover
We plant in autumn where possible. We hand over a care guide written for the actual owner, not a generic document. Then we visit in spring.