Already partially enclosed by an ipe fence and concrete wall, our client had a vision of an outdoor courtyard for entertaining on warm summer evenings since the space would be shaded by the house in the afternoon. He imagined the space with a water feature, lighting and paving surrounded by plants. With our marching orders in place, we drew up a schematic plan quickly and met to review two options for the space. These options quickly coalesced and combined into a single vision for the space. A thick, 60” tall concrete wall would enclose the opening to the street – creating privacy and security, and making a bold statement. We knew the gate had to be interesting enough to stand up to the large concrete walls on either side, so we designed and had custom fabricated by Dennis Schleder (www.dennisschleder.com) a beautiful, visually dynamic metal gate. The gate has become the icing on the cake, all 300 pounds of it! Other touches include drought tolerant planting, bluestone paving with pebble accents, crushed granite paving, LED accent lighting, and outdoor furniture. Both existing trees were retained and are thriving with their new soil. The garden was installed in December and our client is extremely happy with the results – so are we! Photo credits, Coreen Schmidt

Greenwich Village Townhouse

The Turett Collaborative

The new owners of this West Village Manhattan townhouse knew that gutting an historically significant building would be a complex undertaking. They were admirers of Turett's townhouse renovations elsewhere in the neighborhood and brought his team on board to convert the multi-unit structure into a single family home. Turett's team had extensive experience with Landmarks, and worked closely with preservationists to anticipate the special needs of the protected facade. The TCA team met with the city's Excavation Unit, city-appointed archeologists, preservationists, Community Boards, and neighbors to bring the owner's original vision - a peaceful home on a tree-line street - to life. Turett worked with adjacent homeowners to achieve a planted rear-yard design that satisfied all interested parties, and brought an impressive array of engineers and consultants aboard to help guarantee a safe process. Turett worked with the owners to design a light-filled house, with landscaped yard and terraces, a music parlor, a skylit gym with pool, and every amenity. The final designs include Turett's signature tour-de-force stairs; sectional invention creating overlapping volumes of space; a dramatic triple-height steel-and-glass elevation; extraordinary acoustical and thermal insulation as part of a highly energy efficient envelope.

West University Landscaping

Exterior Worlds Landscaping & Design

It started with vision. Then arrived fresh sight, seeing what was absent, seeing what was possible. Followed quickly by desire and creativity and know-how and communication and collaboration. When the Ramsowers first called Exterior Worlds, all they had in mind was an outdoor fountain. About working with the Ramsowers, Jeff Halper, owner of Exterior Worlds says, “The Ramsowers had great vision. While they didn’t know exactly what they wanted, they did push us to create something special for them. I get inspired by my clients who are engaged and focused on design like they were. When you get that kind of inspiration and dialogue, you end up with a project like this one.” For Exterior Worlds, our design process addressed two main features of the original space—the blank surface of the yard surrounded by looming architecture and plain fencing. With the yard, we dug out the center of it to create a one-foot drop in elevation in which to build a sunken pool. At one end, we installed a spa, lining it with a contrasting darker blue glass tile. Pedestals topped with urns anchor the pool and provide a place for spot color. Jets of water emerge from these pedestals. This moving water becomes a shield to block out urban noises and makes the scene lively. (And the children think it’s great fun to play in them.) On the side of the pool, another fountain, an illuminated basin built of limestone, brick and stainless steel, feeds the pool through three slots. The pool is counterbalanced by a large plot of grass. What is inventive about this grassy area is its sub-structure. Before putting down the grass, we installed a French drain using grid pavers that pulls water away, an action that keeps the soil from compacting and the grass from suffocating. The entire sunken area is finished off with a border of ground cover that transitions the eye to the limestone walkway and the retaining wall, where we used the same reclaimed bricks found in architectural features of the house. In the outer border along the fence line, we planted small trees that give the space scale and also hide some unsightly utility infrastructure. Boxwood and limestone gravel were embroidered into a parterre design to underscore the formal shape of the pool. Additionally, we planted a rose garden around the illuminated basin and a color garden for seasonal color at the far end of the yard across from the covered terrace. To address the issue of the house’s prominence, we added a pergola to the main wing of the house. The pergola is made of solid aluminum, chosen for its durability, and painted black. The Ramsowers had used reclaimed ornamental iron around their front yard and so we replicated its pattern in the pergola’s design. “In making this design choice and also by using the reclaimed brick in the pool area, we wanted to honor the architecture of the house,” says Halper. We continued the ornamental pattern by building an aluminum arbor and pool security fence along the covered terrace. The arbor’s supports gently curve out and away from the house. It, plus the pergola, extends the structural aspect of the house into the landscape. At the same time, it softens the hard edges of the house and unifies it with the yard. The softening effect is further enhanced by the wisteria vine that will eventually cover both the arbor and the pergola. From a practical standpoint, the pergola and arbor provide shade, especially when the vine becomes mature, a definite plus for the west-facing main house. This newly-created space is an updated vision for a traditional garden that combines classic lines with the modern sensibility of innovative materials. The family is able to sit in the house or on the covered terrace and look out over the landscaping. To enjoy its pleasing form and practical function. To appreciate its cool, soothing palette, the blues of the water flowing into the greens of the garden with a judicious use of color. And accept its invitation to step out, step down, jump in, enjoy.

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Kitchen Portfolio

Ulrich Inc

Ulrich designer: Bonnie Hufnagel, CKD Photography by Peter Rymwid To make this small kitchen work-flow really work and to add storage. The original kitchen had the refrigerator sticking out into the kitchen passage area. We installed a built-in Sub-Zero model that only projected to counter depth, and to install a custom wood panel on it matching the cabinetry. This made the refrigerator look like the cabinets and reduced its visual presence. We also moved the range to the center of the side wall space which provided 4 feet of prep area on either side of the range. The soffits were removed from overhead and the cabinets were brought to the ceiling around the kitchen perimeter to gain more storage space.

Garnet Residence

Envision Landscape Studio

This small tract home backyard was transformed into a lively breathable garden. A new outdoor living room was created, with silver-grey brazilian slate flooring, and a smooth integral pewter colored concrete wall defining and retaining earth around it. A water feature is the backdrop to this outdoor room extending the flooring material (slate) into the vertical plane covering a wall that houses three playful stainless steel spouts that spill water into a large basin. Koi Fish, Gold fish and water plants bring a new mini ecosystem of life, and provide a focal point and meditational environment. The integral colored concrete wall begins at the main water feature and weaves to the south west corner of the yard where water once again emerges out of a 4” stainless steel channel; reinforcing the notion that this garden backs up against a natural spring. The stainless steel channel also provides children with an opportunity to safely play with water by floating toy boats down the channel. At the north eastern end of the integral colored concrete wall, a warm western red cedar bench extends perpendicular out from the water feature on the outside of the slate patio maximizing seating space in the limited size garden. Natural rusting Cor-ten steel fencing adds a layer of interest throughout the garden softening the 6’ high surrounding fencing and helping to carry the users eye from the ground plane up past the fence lines into the horizon; the cor-ten steel also acts as a ribbon, tie-ing the multiple spaces together in this garden. The plant palette uses grasses and rushes to further establish in the subconscious that a natural water source does exist. Planting was performed outside of the wire fence to connect the new landscape to the existing open space; this was successfully done by using perennials and grasses whose foliage matches that of the native hillside, blurring the boundary line of the garden and aesthetically extending the backyard up into the adjacent open space.

West Philadelphia Kitchen

Hanson Fine Building

Installation of new kitchen marble countertops; reconditioned exposed ceiling joists; locally custom-fabricated steel floor-to-ceiling bay window. Photographer: Jeffrey Totaro

Quince Reverse Shed Eichler

Guy Ayers, Architect

Reverse Shed Eichler This project is part tear-down, part remodel. The original L-shaped plan allowed the living/ dining/ kitchen wing to be completely re-built while retaining the shell of the bedroom wing virtually intact. The rebuilt entertainment wing was enlarged 50% and covered with a low-slope reverse-shed roof sloping from eleven to thirteen feet. The shed roof floats on a continuous glass clerestory with eight foot transom. Cantilevered steel frames support wood roof beams with eaves of up to ten feet. An interior glass clerestory separates the kitchen and livingroom for sound control. A wall-to-wall skylight illuminates the north wall of the kitchen/family room. New additions at the back of the house add several “sliding” wall planes, where interior walls continue past full-height windows to the exterior, complimenting the typical Eichler indoor-outdoor ceiling and floor planes. The existing bedroom wing has been re-configured on the interior, changing three small bedrooms into two larger ones, and adding a guest suite in part of the original garage. A previous den addition provided the perfect spot for a large master ensuite bath and walk-in closet. Natural materials predominate, with fir ceilings, limestone veneer fireplace walls, anigre veneer cabinets, fir sliding windows and interior doors, bamboo floors, and concrete patios and walks. Landscape design by Bernard Trainor: www.bernardtrainor.com (see “Concrete Jungle” in April 2014 edition of Dwell magazine). Microsoft Media Center installation of the Year, 2008: www.cybermanor.com/ultimate_install.html (automated shades, radiant heating system, and lights, as well as security & sound).

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