I plan to build on a 4.5 acre site in the Poconos. The house will be up on the hill just behind a large rock outcrop. The owner will have access by driving up and around to the kitchen entrance in the hack but guests will park in front of the outcrop, walk a short path up 4 steps and across the foot bridge to an entrance at the front of the home. The path is in, the foot bridge is almost complete and I have begun enhancing the cliff including planters, terraced patio(s) and gazebo on top. The property was once a flagstone quarrying operation and has an abundance of stone suitable for dry laid up stonework. There are some river rocks but 90% are sedimentary and most split easily with a few wacks of the chisel. The top of the outcrop/cliff drops off at about a 3 in 12 pitch so I feel some retaining walls and stairs are needed to make the area (that will some day be my front yard) inhabitable as a patio or two and the gazebo. I would like the rock outcrop/stone work to continue from the cliff faces through my dry laid up stone retaining walls and so on to gazebo pillars, front porch work and on indoors to the fireplace and perhaps other internal thermal storage stone masonry. I have not put a plan for the landscaping on paper yet but a few things are givens: 1. the highest spot is where the lookout/gazebo should be located, 2. the patio areas must include level areas for outdoor living, 3. the falling off the cliff issue, 4. I have the time and skill to do the work and ordered Reed's book. I am considering making the architecture of the gazebo as well as the house relate to the flagstone quarry theme. Stone posts/pillars/piers and a galvanized steel roof for the gazebo/lookout come to mind. I am looking for ideas and images of stone lookouts and cliffside planters.

Thanks fro any input.

Barry