Brookline, MA
This property was originally part of a larger adjacent homestead, separated by a shared pond, also designed by STIMSON. As a growing family, the Owners wanted a landscape that could handle a large play lawn for athletic use, a pool area, kitchen garden, and terraces for entertaining. The site is conceived as a series of landscapes that define connections between architecture and the spaces between them. A long allee of lindens defines the walk from the main house to the gymnasium, while the front of house is comprised of an unexpected threshold garden of bamboo and water. The high groundwater at the site was very challenging, but allowed runoff to be collected in a linear rainwater garden at the edge of the pool area, planted with a native palette of wetland plants. The site is wrapped by an existing canopy of evergreens and declining understory, and was restored with hemlock, pine, holly and spruce. A perimeter trail through woodland encircles the property, ending at the meadow. The single heritage apple tree that remained formed the basis for planting an orchard of mature fruit trees within the restored meadow.
Recognition
Boston Society of Landscape Architects | Merit Award 2015
Collaborators
Adolfo Perez Architects
Photography
Rosemary Fletcher