The idea of a house on a hill has a grand and romantic ring to it-especially considering I have spent my entire life standing on ground no higher than sea level. The terraced gardens of the villas of the Italian Lakes-heavenly. Meaning, heavenly to look at, and the devil to visit and maintain. The crest of this fairly steep slope was home to a narrow driveway. Driving uncomfortably close to a steep slope can be nervewracking; I would not have wanted to drive it at night, after a few cocktails. A beautiful drivecourt would provide room to drive and park. The requirement for flat space would be provided by a retaining wall of pressure treated lumber. As I planned to grow climbing hydrangea on the face, I chose the most reasonable and serviceable material.
The driveway was equally close to the front door, and ran past the house to the garage. This made for little opportunity for a presentation of the house, and its fourteen foot width did not permit much parking. It seemed appropriate to splurge here. Two inch thick bluestone laid in a classic aschlar pattern, and bordered in granite setts announced the entrance in an elegant and spacious way.
When not in use as a driveway, or for parking, this areafunctioned as a terrace. I have known my clients to host a pre-dinner hour here on a nice night. The asphalt would remain in place on either side. A stone driveway demands expert installation, a service which is well worth the expense.
The landscape is simple. Rectangles planted solidly with yews abut four rectangles of pachysandra and matching English Oaks. The triple wide hedge of yews adjacent to the retaining wall provide security for people and vehicles. These masses of yews did have that polka-dot pattern for a few years until they grew in; proper spacing at planting helps to avoid cultural problems later.
A driveway that runs parallel to the front door needs a landscape statement that signals an imminent entrance. This drivecourt landscape creates the impression that the garden came first, and the drive through second. The English oaks enclose the space, without obstructing the view of the house.
It has been a number of years since this garden was installed. This photograph clearly illustrates what a graceful space has been created from the simple idea of flat ground. Sloped spaces are not particularly sociable or functional spaces. Deciding how you need a space to function, should organize the design to come.
A pair of French orangery boxes from Les Jardin du Roi Soleil define the transition from driveway to walkway. These boxes have been manufactured in this shape, design, and color since ythe 17th century. The legs, corners and hinges are cast iron. Originally, the slatted oak boards and hinged iron permitted the boxes to be opened from the side. A lemon tree that had summered outdoors could be slid out of its box, and stored in the orangery for the winter. How’s that for a little romance?
Simple rectangles of painted wood contain boxwood hedges that sit between the columns of the porch, and on the roof. The modification of the roof to hold those boxes-the work of a very thoughtful interior designer.
There is a fine view from the inside looking out as well. Flat spaces are great places to meet and to be.
I started to work on this lovely property in 1998. Set in a forest of old trees, the house and landscape had that quiet woodland up-north feeling. Everything I designed for this client I kept in keeping with that feeling; few properties come with an aura as strong as this one did. A case in point; this driveway was laid out with the house in the 1920’s-and was no longer wide enough for modern vehicles. My solution? Edge the drive in small round native to Michigan granite rocks, and let the moss go to work on them. Anyone over the edge with their SUV-no harm. Do no harm-this was my organizing metaphor.
I like formal spaces in front yards, as I like a public presentation that looks good every day. All of us are very busy people-I like a landscape that can wait. But boxwood or taxus hedging seemed alien to the feel of this space. The golden vacary privet-an old plant not much in fashion since its hey day in the 50’s, seemed perfect. The chartreuse color would light up the shade. This very informal material used in a formal way, was a nod to the period and feeling of the vintage house, and its landscape.
This picture is taken from the road. Old weeping Norway spruce were planted very close and gracefully to the foundation of the house. I repeated this woodland feeling at the road-with a break, a view. A brief view.
The gold vicary described the shape of a circular sunken garden. What I love the most about the native Michigan woods are how quiet they are; no noise which is technological in origin. No radio, no cars, no jet skis, no boats-just quiet. The sound of birds, wind, footsteps-these sounds are native, natural, and good. Sinking a garden even a little intensifies the quiet. Two simple steps of grass with round rock risers-a casual, northern Michigan detail. 
And the ferns? Everywhere. Ostrich ferns as a groundcover-this is a beautiful look. The texture, scale and informality is easy on the eyes, and pleasing. Drifts of ferns really interest me as a designer. They are bold and sculptural in big masses. But they speak directly to the primeval forest; the look of a stand of ferns wrings all the tension out of me.
No doubt this was a shady, mossy, quiet, not perfect, natural, woodland landscape. A grouping of funky containers and sculptures, set in groundcover on the far east perimeter, was a nod to the point of view of the client. I love a collection of objects that band together to make a sculpture. 
I wrote last Sunday in my weekly opinion post that a ride by this treasured project of mine revealed that the client has ripped most everything out, and installed a new landscape. I felt the shock that anyone feels when they come face to face with something so totally unexpected that blacking out seems an appropriate response. It took me two days to recover, but recover I did. 
My clients have their own lives, and their own idea of beauty. They hire me-I am not a favorite aunt, or a Mom, or a daughter. Their lives change-I am not privy to most of that. I may be close beyond close for the duration of the project, but I am usually their fifth business. At my age, I know who I am. I appreciate that the lives of my clients are not subject to my review. I furthermore understand that my ownership of a project is while I am making it. What happens after-I am not responsible, nor am I honored. This is as it should be.
It is not my idea to critique the new landscape-that is not the point of this post. I am not interested in being a critic. I am interested in writing about my life as a designer. It is very tough to see years of work erased-no one cozies up to this. Least of all me. I am interested in history, and continuity. But I do not always get my way.
No matter how this landscape looks now, I am not unhappy about how I approached it. I have no second thoughts. I will sleep sound tonight.
The house sits on a piece of property that is very high and steeply sloped. The berms only exacerbated this precarious look; the second order of business was to grade. We dug up as much plant material as we could, and heeled it in. We cut the berms down, and filled in the slope to soften it. We added many more yards of soil. The existing plants we were able to save we grouped together, so every plant had like company, and replanted in another area of the yard. 
The bermed soil right up to the drive edge meant dirt and debris on the drive, non-stop. Any design needs a component that addresses ease of maintenance. I am happy to attend to the maintenance of my pots every day. Needing to sweep debris off a drive every day is annoying. This kind of thing can make people dislike gardening for no good reason. 
Once the grade issues were addressed in a way that worked, we laid out the design. My client likes white, simple and dramatic. She wanted to drive up to that, love it, and then go to her back yard garden to spend time. This first element of drama came from the grading. 
The irregularly sloping and steep ground was graded to slope gently on a consistent angle to the street. Particular care was taken to insure that the view from the house to the street would feature ground with sculptural appeal.
For anyone who likes white, dramatic and simple, Limelight hydrangeas are a logical choice. The dark green yews, and the sleekly trimmed arborvitae make great companions to all the profusion to come.
The walk was redone in chocolate, or lilac bluestone. This is an unusual color, but great looking with the color of the house. The walk is bordered in annuals in the summer, and white tulips in the spring. 
This new look helps to focus some attention on the architecture of the house, and features the front porch. We enlarged the front porch, and repainted all the trim and wood on the house. Sometimes a landscape project can spill over into another area of design. In this case, a new landscape helped generate changes to the house, lighting, and porch.
A pair of large contemporary French faux bois pots flank the front door; what a handsome view this is now. Very friendly formal, I call this. She calls it a blast.