GLENDALE
The objective of the landscape design for this contemporary home was to provide a private realm to which others are invited from time to time, imprinted with the owners’ personalities, while flowing from the features of the site and the architecture of the house. A meditative, yet welcoming, quality was sought. Landscape designer Virginia Rockwell used the process from Julie Messervy’s Inward Garden to discover each of the owners' personal connection with the landscape. This approach ultimately inspired design elements such as the grass "island" in the rolling "sea" of lawn, meadow and pasture in front of the house, the "sky circle" atop the crown of the hill behind, and the meditation bench to view the "cosmic tree."
The two key features of the site are the gently rolling Piedmont Hills, which can be seen as "waves" from the house, and the "cosmic tree," a venerable old black gum with an 80’ canopy located 200’ behind the house. The "genius of the place" is that, while on the meditation terrace, you can be in the open and yet quite hidden from view of the house/terrace by the gentle topography of the hill.
A contemporary interpretation includes
organic, low-maintenance general landscape and a
meditation garden beyond/behind the house, highlighting a venerable old
black gum tree.
