MELISSA MACDONALD LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

The property and new home (Oak Hill Architects, Weston) are on a point of land with a 280 degree view of the Boston Harbor Islands. The site required careful regrading to raise the new house high enough on the site to allow for a full basement, while having it sit comfortably on the site. The property's walks are constructed with large bluestone slabs that were salvaged from the site's previous house. The existing sea wall is shrouded in the summer months by billowing masses of ornamental grasses and perennials. Plants were carefully selected to be tolerant of ocean spray and wind.

After completing a home addition, the owners of this lovely 1920s home wanted an outdoor space for dining and entertaining. In the company of a magnificent, mature beech tree, the design had to be sensitive to the tree's root system and needed to link the rear of house to existing driveway. The homeowner, herself an artist, has a love and appreciation for art and sculpture. The line of bluestone slab pavers are on axis with the kitchen door. They terminate in a large square bluestone slab that awaits the perfect piece of sculpture once the homeowners find it!

Located in Porter Square, the owners wanted the landscape to marry their combined aesthetics of clean , modern lines with organic, ebullient abundance.