This luxury modern custom home welcomes guests with a striking front entry that perfectly blends contemporary design and natural materials. Clean architectural lines, oversized windows, and a rich wood front door create an inviting focal point. Thoughtfully placed exterior lighting highlights the entry path, while sleek landscaping adds texture and warmth. The open-concept design flows seamlessly from the entry into the heart of the home, setting the tone for sophisticated, comfortable living.

This private residence, located in a planned community along Fort Loudoun Lake in Knoxville, Tennessee, is intended to be a forever home for the client couple and their family as the couple nears retirement. Designed with family gatherings and lake views in mind, those entering the stone-clad cottage are greeted with immediate views of the water. Passing through an entry corridor and then through an oversized archway, the grand, vaulted living and dining areas flank the path to large sliding doors opening onto a covered veranda that overlooks the pool and lake beyond. The interior architecture is open and light, with two en suite master bedrooms on the main level and three guest suites tucked into the eaves over the garage. The home’s furnishings are an eclectic mix of the homeowner’s unique collections, a blend of comfortable and curated. The exterior is monochromatic in color with shake siding and trim at the gable ends painted to complement the light tan and grays of the stone cladding, creating a French country feel. Custom-painted wood shutters and rich wood entry doors add additional character to the exterior.

In May, 2021, I created a new section of the garden. My intention was to create a magical, immersive space, rich with color, texture and an element of surprise. Glass art by Victor Chiarizia becomes a subtle focal point just across the foot bridge.

The objective was to create a warm neutral space to later customize to a specific colour palate/preference of the end user for this new construction home being built to sell. A high-end contemporary feel was requested to attract buyers in the area. An impressive kitchen that exuded high class and made an impact on guests as they entered the home, without being overbearing. The space offers an appealing open floorplan conducive to entertaining with indoor-outdoor flow. Due to the spec nature of this house, the home had to remain appealing to the builder, while keeping a broad audience of potential buyers in mind. The challenge lay in creating a unique look, with visually interesting materials and finishes, while not being so unique that potential owners couldn’t envision making it their own. The focus on key elements elevates the look, while other features blend and offer support to these striking components. As the home was built for sale, profitability was important; materials were sourced at best value, while retaining high-end appeal. Adaptations to the home’s original design plan improve flow and usability within the kitchen-greatroom. The client desired a rich dark finish. The chosen colours tie the kitchen to the rest of the home (creating unity as combination, colours and materials, is repeated throughout). Photos- Paul Grdina

Saturday, August 8, 9:00 to 10:30am | Aspen | DBX3 by Sheri Sanzone and Christine Shine of Bluegreen A modern residential community with a storied past, the Double Bar X Ranch is steeped in the rich history of Colorado’s mining and agrarian roots. Today the site of a contemporary, ranch-inspired community, this rustic landscape was once part of the largest silver-producing mining district in the U.S. It later supported an array of intensive, agricultural activities. From the gentle rise of tilled-rubble walls and the patterning of open meadow, to the remnants of sculpted earthworks, evidence of the site’s prior use abounds. Winding foot trails allow visitors to experience panoramic views of the timbered landscape and structural features reminiscent of the historic ranch, including the large, wooden water trough that serves as a central focal point of the property. The design of the current landscape celebrates this juxtaposition of past and present; it revels in its contemporary context while embracing a historically minded design intent and honoring its latent history through selected materials and textures. The result of this mindful effort is an expression of thoughtful transition from the bygone, ranch of yesterday to a modern-day interpretation of the agrarian homestead. Photo by Jason Dewey Photography, courtesy Bluegreen

Terran Landscapes http://www.terranlandscapes.com Project Entry: Fishers Woodland Garden 2014 PLNA Awards for Landscape Excellence Winner Category: Theme Garden $15,000-$30,000 Award Level: Bronze Photo Description: We were contracted by the client to design a calming space for their staff to relax, take a walk, and enjoy a leisurely lunch as well as to provide their grandchildren a place to run and pick flowers. The space was originally dominated by large trees and had been overgrown with ivy, sumac and aggressive vines, providing an unwelcome, dark space with little color or visual appeal. The client requested a colorful blend of shrubs and perennials that would provide interest throughout the seasons, as well as provide privacy by screening the street traffic along Carisbrooke Road. Our goal was to create the privacy screen along the road by layering plants from the ground to the tree canopy. The theme was to let nature inspire the landscape, allowing a space that was originally woodland to become an enhanced version of itself, creating a beautiful habitat for birds and butterflies to excite the senses and satisfy all who enjoy the beauty of nature. We began by clearing the brush and removing all aggressive vines and ivy that jeopardized the health of the trees. We kept and transplanted all non- invasive or native plant material in the area to various locations throughout the property. Several yards of compost were then tilled into the soil and the existing trees fertilized to provide a rich growing environment. A few challenges occurred during the design process. It was decided that a new generator was to be installed in the woodland and due to a future addition to the house, we were forced to eliminate planned additional impervious pathway surfaces. We provided screening to hide the generator and buffer the noise, and created a meandering path and sitting area out of natural woodchips instead of the proposed bluestone to solve the impervious space issue. The woodchips add a sense of informality and invite the viewer to walk slowly through the space. The reduced noise from the additional screening of the generator allows for quiet reflection as chipmunks scurry and hummingbirds dart about between the flowers. Our plant palette consists of shady understory plants that thrive and flower vigorously from spring through fall. A tall, lush, evergreen backdrop of Ilex opaca and Prunus laurocerasus ‘Schipkaensis’ provides the screening and blends into a middle layer of ‘Ivory Halo’ dogwood, hydrangeas and winterberry hollies. Beautiful perennials and groundcovers bloom along the woodland path, providing a low visual layer of color and texture. Movement throughout the garden is provided by the graceful Calamagrostis brachytricha and Hakenchloa that soften the nearby hardscaping. The woodland floor is full of shade-loving Solomon’s seal, hosta, astilbe, ferns, bleeding heart, Tiarella and Aconitum. The street side of this woodland required plants with a preference for a little more sun and drought tolerance. A palette of oakleaf hydrangea, Agastache, Liatris and Rudbeckia softens the fence line and provides the desired color. As designed and installed, the woodland garden successfully provides the client’s family and office staff a quiet space where they can take a peaceful moment and enjoy nature. Photo Credit: Lisa C. Falls

Bridle Path Residence — Powder Room Designed as a compact jewel box within the larger residence, this powder room balances quiet elegance with a more dramatic material moment. The restrained ivory palette establishes a bright, timeless backdrop, while the vertically framed textured stone feature introduces depth, movement, and a sense of architectural permanence. Its dark, richly veined surface creates a deliberate contrast against the surrounding light finishes without overwhelming the intimate scale of the room. The custom vanity continues the home’s tailored millwork language, with refined detailing and a clean stone countertop that keeps the composition sophisticated and uncluttered. A sculptural beveled mirror adds another layer of geometry, reflecting light and visually expanding the space. The carefully selected finishes demonstrate a design approach centered on contrast, proportion, texture, and craftsmanship—allowing even a small functional room to feel intentional and luxurious. The result is a powder room that feels polished rather than ornamental: classical architectural detailing meets contemporary material contrast, creating a timeless space with a distinctly residential sense of luxury.

Some surfaces do more than elevate curb appeal. Eco Urbana™ works with nature, not against it. Designed to blend rustic charm with sustainable performance, it creates a driveway that is as functional as it is beautiful. Belgard Eco Urbana™ is a permeable paver designed to reduce stormwater runoff by allowing water to filter back into the earth. Its multi-size format and rich blended tones create a timeworn, cobblestone effect that complements both classic and modern homes. With structural strength built in, it’s ideal for long driveways, sloped terrain, and eco-conscious landscapes. Now imagine a driveway that drains efficiently. It handles the rain. It reduces erosion. And it creates a warm, inviting path home with every step or wheel that passes. Eco Urbana™ isn’t just a visual feature. It is a long-term investment in the health and beauty of your land. This is not just a driveway. It is a smart solution rooted in timeless design. Let’s explore how this material can bring your outdoor story to life. Schedule your consultation today: 516-522-8249

Bridle Path Residence — Formal Living & Music Room This Bridle Path Residence living room is conceived as an elegant, light-filled entertaining space where classical architectural structure meets contemporary glamour and collected residential comfort. Rather than relying on ornament alone, the design uses proportion, symmetry, material contrast, and carefully selected furniture to create a room that feels sophisticated yet genuinely livable. The architecture establishes a strong sense of permanence. Extensive wall panelling, substantial crown moulding, layered ceiling details, and classical fireplace architecture give the room an established character reminiscent of a refined estate interior. At the same time, the clean white envelope keeps the architecture fresh and allows the furnishings and artwork to provide the personality. The expansive bay windows are one of the defining features of the room. Their repeated vertical proportions bring abundant natural light deep into the space while creating a strong relationship with the surrounding landscape. The windows also soften the formal architecture, giving the room an open, airy quality rather than the heaviness often associated with traditional interiors. The furniture introduces a deliberately more contemporary language. A blush-toned sofa and upholstered accent chairs bring softness and warmth, while deep navy seating adds contrast and visual depth. Slim brass frames on the chairs and occasional tables introduce a subtle metallic thread throughout the room, connecting the individual seating pieces into a cohesive composition. The central seating arrangement is intentionally conversational. Rather than orienting every piece toward the fireplace, the furniture creates an intimate social zone within the much larger room. The mix of rounded forms, sculptural silhouettes, and geometric metal bases prevents the formal architecture from feeling rigid. A sculptural gold-toned coffee table becomes an important visual anchor. Its organic texture contrasts with the linear architectural detailing and polished hardwood floor, adding a layer of tactile richness. Smaller glass and metal tables maintain visual openness and allow the expansive room to remain uncluttered. The fireplace provides a secondary focal point at the far end of the room, framed by symmetrical architectural detailing and flanking sconces. Its position establishes a visual axis through the space, while the artwork above introduces a curated, contemporary note within the traditional setting. The piano adds an important dimension to the room's identity. Rather than being treated as a separate musical installation, it is integrated naturally into the overall composition, reinforcing the idea of the room as a space for music, entertaining, conversation, and everyday enjoyment. It also adds a rich dark element that balances the lighter furnishings and architectural envelope. The warm hardwood flooring provides continuity and grounds the predominantly white palette. Against it, the combination of blush, navy, muted green, brass, glass, and natural textures creates a sophisticated but approachable colour story. Overall, the room demonstrates a modern interpretation of classic luxury. Traditional architectural detailing provides the foundation, while contemporary furniture, sculptural lighting, metallic accents, art, and layered upholstery bring freshness and personality. The result is an elegant Bridle Path living space that feels tailored, highly finished, and timeless without becoming overly formal.

This intimate townhouse garden features a combination of rich, contrasting materials - Jerusalem limestone, New Yangtze limestone from China, cedar, and copper - layered to create a vibrant contemporary garden. Improvements include a lap pool and fountain, terraces, custom security fence and railings, copper wall and lush plantings. Various site constraints were overcome through extensive collaboration with the architect, builder, and contractors. This work included excavation and construction of a swimming pool on the land-locked property and the installation of a specimen Magnolia, requiring the tree to be craned over the residence, a span over 100 feet. Landscape Architecture: Oehme, van Sweden and Associates (ovsla.com) Builder: Pagenstecher Group (pagenstechergroup.com) Photography: John Knowlton/Till Gardens Project completed while working at Oehme, van Sweden

Location: Cohasset, MA, US These clients wanted a landscape that had a sense of flow, of unfolding, of mysteries revealed. They love art and were open to ideas beyond the traditional themes, and so the swirls and circles of artist Sonia Delaunay, became the inspiration for this gorgeous coastal property in Cohasset, MA. This garden was inspired by the art of Sonia Delaunay. Along the entire length of the house we made a sweeping serpentine stone wall that swerves around like a great dragon tail. In front of it are deep beds filled with Euphorbia, Lavender, Geranium, Coreopsis, Salvia, and Hakonechloa grass. They sing with blues, purples and yellows, the homeowners’ favorite colors. This composition creates a strong flow, leading the eye down the path. Notice how the size, shape and color of the two Japanese Maples create a rich backdrop to the dazzling Hakonechloa grass and Geranium Roxanne. The slender branches of the Amelanchier tree give the composition just what it needs, a vertical line leading upward in the foreground.

Saturday, August 8, 9:00 to 10:30am | Aspen | DBX3 by Sheri Sanzone and Christine Shine of Bluegreen A modern residential community with a storied past, the Double Bar X Ranch is steeped in the rich history of Colorado’s mining and agrarian roots. Today the site of a contemporary, ranch-inspired community, this rustic landscape was once part of the largest silver-producing mining district in the U.S. It later supported an array of intensive, agricultural activities. From the gentle rise of tilled-rubble walls and the patterning of open meadow, to the remnants of sculpted earthworks, evidence of the site’s prior use abounds. Winding foot trails allow visitors to experience panoramic views of the timbered landscape and structural features reminiscent of the historic ranch, including the large, wooden water trough that serves as a central focal point of the property. The design of the current landscape celebrates this juxtaposition of past and present; it revels in its contemporary context while embracing a historically minded design intent and honoring its latent history through selected materials and textures. The result of this mindful effort is an expression of thoughtful transition from the bygone, ranch of yesterday to a modern-day interpretation of the agrarian homestead. Photo by Jason Dewey Photography, courtesy Bluegreen

Pace Island is located in the heart of Fleming Island. It is rich with natural beauty, and is located off of Highway 17 and Doctor's Lake just north of County Road 220. This gated community contains 685 homes, 2 pools, one of which is an olympic-size competition pool, lighted tennis courts, lighted basketball courts, community clubhouse, park and playground, and community dock on Doctors Lake. Pace Island has direct access to the Black Creek Trail Bicycle Path that begins in Orange Park and continues to Black Creek. Within the community are nature trails that parallels a secured wildlife refuge.

The Sonoma Farmhaus project was designed for a cycling enthusiast with a globally demanding professional career, who wanted to create a place that could serve as both a retreat of solitude and a hub for gathering with friends and family. Located within the town of Graton, California, the site was chosen not only to be close to a small town and its community, but also to be within cycling distance to the picturesque, coastal Sonoma County landscape. Taking the traditional forms of farmhouse, and their notions of sustenance and community, as inspiration, the project comprises an assemblage of two forms - a Main House and a Guest House with Bike Barn - joined in the middle by a central outdoor gathering space anchored by a fireplace. The vision was to create something consciously restrained and one with the ground on which it stands. Simplicity, clear detailing, and an innate understanding of how things go together were all central themes behind the design. Solid walls of rammed earth blocks, fabricated from soils excavated from the site, bookend each of the structures. According to the owner, the use of simple, yet rich materials and textures...“provides a humanness I’ve not known or felt in any living venue I’ve stayed, Farmhaus is an icon of sustenance for me".

This intimate townhouse garden features a combination of rich, contrasting materials - Jerusalem limestone, New Yangtze limestone from China, cedar, and copper - layered to create a vibrant contemporary garden. Improvements include a lap pool and fountain, terraces, custom security fence and railings, copper wall and lush plantings. Various site constraints were overcome through extensive collaboration with the architect, builder, and contractors. This work included excavation and construction of a swimming pool on the land-locked property and the installation of a specimen Magnolia, requiring the tree to be craned over the residence, a span over 100 feet. Landscape Architecture: Oehme, van Sweden and Associates (ovsla.com) Builder: Pagenstecher Group (pagenstechergroup.com) Photography: John Knowlton/Till Gardens Project completed while working at Oehme, van Sweden

Spring Lake Garden Design Rich Pomerantz, photographer
Photo of an asian landscaping in New York.

This dramatic remodel reinvigorated mid-century modern with an updated contemporary vibe after earlier updates had traditionalized the home. Completed in 2022, a significant reorganization of the space removed an existing fireplace and reallocated a living room to create a centrally located open-concept Kitchen and Dining Room. Dominating the kitchen is the spectacular emerald-toned glass cabinetry. Vivid and rich, the matte glass provides a depth and softness unmatched by painted cabinetry. Natural quartzite slabs wrap the waterfalled island and backsplashes, the unique graining provides interest without competing against the bold cabinetry. The home’s unique butterfly floorplan is reflected in the various angles incorporated into the architectural elements of the island, new walls and directing paths through offset openings. A series of interconnected beams, soffits, and columns impose spatial order and break the space into digestible visual components. The gas range is incorporated into a niche that contains a generous backbar, full-height backsplash and integrated spice storage. The island features brass inlays at slab breaks and a contrasting granite backchannel with an inconspicuous ‘scrubby-dubby cubby’ at one end for concealing cleaning supplies. The knee space is clad in the white oak planks of the floor, aligned and turned vertically as if folded. A distinctive black stained buffet with touch latch drawers is comprised of strips of cherry repurposed from paneling found in den. Matching woodwork is incorporated into the Foyer and wraps the Fireplace.

This dramatic remodel reinvigorated mid-century modern with an updated contemporary vibe after earlier updates had traditionalized the home. Completed in 2022, a significant reorganization of the space removed an existing fireplace and reallocated a living room to create a centrally located open-concept Kitchen and Dining Room. Dominating the kitchen is the spectacular emerald-toned glass cabinetry. Vivid and rich, the matte glass provides a depth and softness unmatched by painted cabinetry. Natural quartzite slabs wrap the waterfalled island and backsplashes, the unique graining provides interest without competing against the bold cabinetry. The home’s unique butterfly floorplan is reflected in the various angles incorporated into the architectural elements of the island, new walls and directing paths through offset openings. A series of interconnected beams, soffits, and columns impose spatial order and break the space into digestible visual components. The gas range is incorporated into a niche that contains a generous backbar, full-height backsplash and integrated spice storage. The island features brass inlays at slab breaks and a contrasting granite backchannel with an inconspicuous ‘scrubby-dubby cubby’ at one end for concealing cleaning supplies. The knee space is clad in the white oak planks of the floor, aligned and turned vertically as if folded. A distinctive black stained buffet with touch latch drawers is comprised of strips of cherry repurposed from paneling found in den. Matching woodwork is incorporated into the Foyer and wraps the Fireplace.

This dramatic remodel reinvigorated mid-century modern with an updated contemporary vibe after earlier updates had traditionalized the home. Completed in 2022, a significant reorganization of the space removed an existing fireplace and reallocated a living room to create a centrally located open-concept Kitchen and Dining Room. Dominating the kitchen is the spectacular emerald-toned glass cabinetry. Vivid and rich, the matte glass provides a depth and softness unmatched by painted cabinetry. Natural quartzite slabs wrap the waterfalled island and backsplashes, the unique graining provides interest without competing against the bold cabinetry. The home’s unique butterfly floorplan is reflected in the various angles incorporated into the architectural elements of the island, new walls and directing paths through offset openings. A series of interconnected beams, soffits, and columns impose spatial order and break the space into digestible visual components. The gas range is incorporated into a niche that contains a generous backbar, full-height backsplash and integrated spice storage. The island features brass inlays at slab breaks and a contrasting granite backchannel with an inconspicuous ‘scrubby-dubby cubby’ at one end for concealing cleaning supplies. The knee space is clad in the white oak planks of the floor, aligned and turned vertically as if folded. A distinctive black stained buffet with touch latch drawers is comprised of strips of cherry repurposed from paneling found in den. Matching woodwork is incorporated into the Foyer and wraps the Fireplace.