Country Cottage
Pasadena, California
"Our client wanted the gardens that surrounded his home to be informal and naturalistic." Leland Walmsley

Description

Built in the 1880s, this romantic Prairie style home naturally inspired a garden design that fully expresses the beauty and diversity of the four seasons.

Each season reveals its own mesmerizing beauty surrounding this landmark home.

Highlights include the awakening of spring with eye-popping color; verdant, lush and sustaining perennials emerge in summer; gold and red hues are ablaze in autumn; and sculptural deciduous trees are a breath-taking focus in winter.

In keeping with a Pasadena tradition, we employed local craftsmen to reuse the brick and stone harvested on-site for our stairways, walls and paths.

The focal reveal at one end of a winding path is an airy pergola crafted from local on-site stone and sustainably harvested wood; an artistically idyllic wisteria vine adds even more visual interest, changing throughout the seasons, while softening the hard lines of the pergola.

The local song birds occasionally fluttering throughout fully complete this whimsical, magical almost storybook vignette.

Sustainability Highlights

  • FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified sustainably harvested wood
  • Use of local stone and reclaimed brick (reuse, and no landfill)
  • Food-scaping Fruit trees (Peach, Persimmon, Avocado, Citrus, Fig, Pear, Apricot, Plum) and seasonal vegetables
  • Use of non-toxics – herbicides, fertilizers, soil amendments, etc.
  • Landscape is now people, pet and wildlife friendly
  • Ornamental plants with low-water needs
  • Smart irrigation (rain & wind sensors)
  • Minimal hardscape allows groundwater recharge / little to no run-off to burden the sewer system and reducing waterway/ ocean pollution
  • Composting of food waste for future use in the garden
  • Liberal use of mulch for weed control, retains soil moisture to reduce the drying effect of the sundowner winds, reduces maintenance costs, and revitalizes the soil as it breaks down.
  • Local vendors, contractors and craftsmen employed
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