Yard of the Week: Lakefront Retreat for Relaxing and Entertaining
A family’s renovated weekend property features expansive meadow gardens, a rustic fire pit area and a labyrinth
After collaborating with LandWorks for their main home in Shorewood, Wisconsin, the owners of this property turned to them again when they purchased 3½ acres outside of Port Washington, about 30 miles north of Milwaukee. “They got a million-dollar lake view with amazing frontage, and they were super excited because they knew there was a certain spirit to this site,” landscape architect Chris Miracle says.
The couple wanted open lawn areas for sports, a large labyrinth and a multifunctional yoga studio space for their weekend retreat, landscape architect Rob Holly says. “They love nature and wanted to make sure we honored that. As we got into the design, there was some good give and take, but basically, they gave us the keys and said, ‘See what you can come up with.’”
The couple wanted open lawn areas for sports, a large labyrinth and a multifunctional yoga studio space for their weekend retreat, landscape architect Rob Holly says. “They love nature and wanted to make sure we honored that. As we got into the design, there was some good give and take, but basically, they gave us the keys and said, ‘See what you can come up with.’”
Lush Lakeside Gardens
The lake side of the house features a wraparound deck with a landing of New York bluestone (also known as Pennsylvania bluestone). Holly and Miracle’s team planted big sweeps of perennials, including wild indigo (Baptisia sp.), beebalm (Monarda sp.) and woolly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus) in between the joints of the bluestone path leading to the half-acre of lawn space.
Behind the house, a 90-foot-high bluff rises to about an acre of untouched landscape. The crew planted high trees to help blend those height differences.
The lake side of the house features a wraparound deck with a landing of New York bluestone (also known as Pennsylvania bluestone). Holly and Miracle’s team planted big sweeps of perennials, including wild indigo (Baptisia sp.), beebalm (Monarda sp.) and woolly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus) in between the joints of the bluestone path leading to the half-acre of lawn space.
Behind the house, a 90-foot-high bluff rises to about an acre of untouched landscape. The crew planted high trees to help blend those height differences.
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The team planted lush sweeps of plants to break up the huge expanses of outdoor space. They used a lot of native, wildlife-attracting plants because they offer a natural palette that complements the surroundings and is well adapted to the local climate. For example, a swath of native wild indigo (Baptisia sp.), beebalm (Monarda sp.) and black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia sp.) surrounds the house with blossoms.
“It helps to screen and soften the view of their sauna on the north side of the house and leads your eye over to the amazing lake in the background,” Miracle says. Other pollinator-friendly herbaceous plants around the property include rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium), Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum), coneflower (Echinacea sp.), goat’s beard (Aruncus dioicus) and black cohosh (Actaea racemosa).
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“It helps to screen and soften the view of their sauna on the north side of the house and leads your eye over to the amazing lake in the background,” Miracle says. Other pollinator-friendly herbaceous plants around the property include rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium), Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum), coneflower (Echinacea sp.), goat’s beard (Aruncus dioicus) and black cohosh (Actaea racemosa).
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Backyard Bar and Dining Spot
The LandWorks team created various vignettes and garden rooms throughout the sprawling property. They added several thyme-infused bluestone patio areas, including one at the back of the house designed for dining and hosting guests.
“The bluestone is a really popular product for lakeside properties because it has different tones of blues, grays and bronzes that blend well with the water,” Miracle says, adding that the material also nicely complements this home’s blue and gray elements. He planted tufts of woolly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus) between the paver joints that release a lovely fragrance when walked on.
The LandWorks team created various vignettes and garden rooms throughout the sprawling property. They added several thyme-infused bluestone patio areas, including one at the back of the house designed for dining and hosting guests.
“The bluestone is a really popular product for lakeside properties because it has different tones of blues, grays and bronzes that blend well with the water,” Miracle says, adding that the material also nicely complements this home’s blue and gray elements. He planted tufts of woolly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus) between the paver joints that release a lovely fragrance when walked on.
A pass-through window creates an ideal spot to set up bar stools for entertaining or sipping cocktails.
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Clumps of black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia sp.), Judd viburnum (Viburnum x juddii) and coneflower (Echinacea sp.) soften the patio edges.
Closer to the water, evergreen shrubs, creeping woolly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus), wild cherry (Prunus avium) and beach grass set the scene for a fire pit gathering spot. The landscape crew covered the ground surrounding the fire pit in a grid of bluestone pavers.
Zen-Inspired Labyrinth
The wish list of the yoga-enthusiast homeowner included a meditative labyrinth, which the team installed near the south side of the property.
“The homeowner is a very spiritual person, and she picked out the design, which we blew up into a larger scale by laying it out with stones,” Miracle says. “Some labyrinths are quite involved, but this one is pretty natural, with big limestone contemplation boulders in the middle.”
Hazelnut trees and 100-foot tall towering pines encircle the space.
The wish list of the yoga-enthusiast homeowner included a meditative labyrinth, which the team installed near the south side of the property.
“The homeowner is a very spiritual person, and she picked out the design, which we blew up into a larger scale by laying it out with stones,” Miracle says. “Some labyrinths are quite involved, but this one is pretty natural, with big limestone contemplation boulders in the middle.”
Hazelnut trees and 100-foot tall towering pines encircle the space.
Local limestone steps and bluestone pavers wrap around the side of the homeowners’ garage, leading toward the labyrinth on the south of the property. “On the left, we used one of my favorite ground cover plants: bigroot geranium (Geranium macrorrhizum),” Miracle says. “It’s a very hardy perennial geranium that’ll take a fair amount of sun or shade. It gets about 9 to 12 inches high with really pretty pink blooms, and the fall color’s spectacular as well.”
Yoga Studio in Nature
A seven-son flower tree (Heptacodium miconioides), a weeping Alaska cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’) and other mature trees snugly envelop the property’s revamped yoga studio. This former storage building also doubles as a crafting space and multifunctional area that features another bluestone patio with fragrant thyme-planted joints. Vibrant green lounge chairs invite guests to take in the serenity and enjoy the mounds of flowers, including coneflower (Echinacea sp.) and black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia sp.).
A seven-son flower tree (Heptacodium miconioides), a weeping Alaska cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’) and other mature trees snugly envelop the property’s revamped yoga studio. This former storage building also doubles as a crafting space and multifunctional area that features another bluestone patio with fragrant thyme-planted joints. Vibrant green lounge chairs invite guests to take in the serenity and enjoy the mounds of flowers, including coneflower (Echinacea sp.) and black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia sp.).
Gunmetal Granite from Wisconsin Rapids — located a few hours north — was brought in to create a 36-inch-tall freestanding, dry-stacked stone wall that winds around the driveway toward the front of the house. “Their house was a laid-back little Cape Cod without much of a pronounced entrance, so this wall leads the eye towards the front,” Miracle says.
“We built a footing down a couple of feet into the ground, added a bunch of clear, angular gravel and then stacked the walls, hand-fitting them together so it becomes a two-sided fence.” Between all of the walls, there’s about 100 tons of granite, Holly says.
Clusters of pink ‘Quick Fire’ panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) and little bluestem grass (Schizachyrium scoparium) soften the stone hardscape, along with native Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum).
“We built a footing down a couple of feet into the ground, added a bunch of clear, angular gravel and then stacked the walls, hand-fitting them together so it becomes a two-sided fence.” Between all of the walls, there’s about 100 tons of granite, Holly says.
Clusters of pink ‘Quick Fire’ panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) and little bluestem grass (Schizachyrium scoparium) soften the stone hardscape, along with native Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum).
A tire swing hangs from the limb of an old spruce tree, tempting visitors to relax and enjoy the eclectic perennial garden with blooms that grow up to 4 feet high.
The sprawling lakeside property features a labyrinth, yoga studio and vast meadows of native plants.
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Landscape at a Glance
Who lives here: This is the weekend retreat for a couple and their college-age children
Location: On Lake Michigan near Port Washington, Wisconsin
Property size: About 3½ acres
Landscape architect and builder: Chris Miracle and Rob Holly of LandWorks
Taking inspiration from the natural environment and crystalline water, the designers at LandWorks developed a hardscape palette to complement the home’s design. “We used really big pieces of bluestone that looks like broken glass for the walkway,” Miracle says of the entry path.
The designers framed the walk with Quick Fire panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata), Judd viburnum (Viburnum x juddii), ‘Golden Spirit’ smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria ‘Golden Spirit’) and flowering ginger ground cover.
Throughout the property, the design team used many varieties of low-maintenance plants — many of them native — such as hemlock (Tsuga sp.), eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), redbud (Cercis sp.), serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.), bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) and witch hazel (Hamamelis sp.).
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