We had several design challenges on this project. The clients were collectors of modern art, and wanted a house to reflect their interests. The neighborhood was an older suburban mix of modest wooden Victorians, with pre and post-war stucco bungalows peppered occasionally with 50’s ranchburgers.

The architectural designer took many of her design cues from bungalow architecture, but buffed them up for today’s expanded expectations (the second story). The designer’s request was that "as there were no curves in the building, there should be no curves in the landscape."

Although I often find front lawns a waste of water (since people seldom use them), in this case the issue was not negotiable, as there was an understanding that the entire neighborhood would participate in a December Christmas display, with electronically wired trees set in each front lawn.

In the rear walled and paved garden, there is a "toddler safe" water feature with a copper wire mesh screen covering the reservoir. (The screen was actually woven by the toddler's dad.) We used blue-green stained landscape timbers and stainless cable to create narrow green walls of Podocarpus around the garden perimeter.