The Loudoun County estate sprawls over 200-plus acres of Virginia horse country, virtually all under conservation easements. To the southwest, the Blue Ridge Mountains beckon across a valley that transitions each autumn from green to rust. On the northern edge of the site, a gracious stone residence constructed in 1932 reflects the dignity of just three owners who’ve occupied it over the past 90 years. In the eyes of Campion and McGraw, the stunning property was fertile ground. “It’s an exquisite old Virginia estate,” says Campion, of Campion Hruby Landscape Architects. “We worked with the clients to reinvent this place for modern life.”

Its current occupants, a horse-loving family of five, acquired the property in 2015 and quickly approached Campion, who had worked on their prior residence in Leesburg. Over the next five years, he collaborated with the owners, an engineering executive and his wife, an equestrienne, to redefine the agrarian landscape.

His master plan encompassed a range of improvements, from a new entry gate and inviting garden rooms to paddocks and a riding arena. It also mapped out a future barn. When the time was right, Campion suggested that his clients contact McGraw, founding partner of StudioMB in Washington, DC, to design it.

“When we came to the project, it was just open pastures,” recalls the architect. “The new owners wanted to bring in horses. The need for a barn evolved into a greater project.”

McGraw conceptualized a grand, multi-purpose structure that would not only accommodate horses but also serve as a venue for family fun and entertaining. Now central to the family’s engagement with their home, the completed whitewashed, timber-frame retreat boasts an airy great hall perched above an elegant, six-stall stable. The 31-foot-high hall is graced by exposed Douglas fir columns, beams, trusses and joints; pine-paneled walls; and a pair of cupolas that bathe the interior in daylight.

Mid-Atlantic Timber Frames of Pennsylvania crafted the 5,700-square-foot structure, which was fitted onto a waiting foundation. Complete with a sleeping loft, the barn’s 3,050-square-foot upper level enjoys pastoral and equestrian views through oversized glazed openings on two sides; a floating wall supports a stone fireplace and a kitchen extends along one end. Sized to host large gatherings such as an annual party for a local riding school, the hall is also intimate enough for family Thanksgiving.

“What I loved about this project was the fact that the clients gave us latitude to create a home for them,” says Campion. “We added the first equestrian piece, then did a master plan for the gardens, then designed the equestrian areas, then went back to the house.”

The main house is a seven-bedroom dwelling with a peaked slate roof, dormers, chimney and white trim. The late DC architect
William H. Irwin Fleming, who orginally designed it, clearly reveled in rustic stone, not only used to clad the exterior but also in a stone-walled study with a flagstone floor and on a massive stone fireplace—one of nine in the residence.

Recent improvements by Campion and McGraw better connect the main house to its pristine landscape. Existing French doors and a Juliet balcony overlook a new stone terrace, pavilion and outdoor kitchen that surround the existing pool. The home’s columned rear porch surveys neat paddocks once dedicated to rolled hay.

The team took design inspiration from the original home. Campion credits Marshall, Virginia-based mason Ed Ashby with honoring the existing stonework. “The magic of the gardens is the combination of hardscape and local building materials with plants that ties it all together,” explains the landscape architect.

Kevin Campion’s master plan respects the natural contours of the terrain. To fine-tune an all-season plant palette, Campion was joined by fellow landscape architect Meredith Forney Beach, whose favored combinations around the new pool terrace include Little Lime hydrangea, Russian sage, ornamental grasses and catmint with “PowWow Wild Berry” coneflower. Spring daffodils and alliums give way to summer roses. In autumn, the foliage fades to gold.

“It’s a very simple, uncomplicated garden,” Campion says. “There’s nothing really fussy, just a sea of native plants with walls and structures that fit into the landscape.”

As for the new barn, this whitewashed building adds a visual focal point. The finely detailed lower level serves an essential purpose in the equestrian family’s lifestyle with efficiency and elegance. The upper level provides the owners with a venue for sharing the estate with a multitude of guests.

“The design was definitely an evolution,” reflects McGraw. “At the end of the day, the barn has become the jewel of the property.”

Barn & Pool House Architecture: Adam McGraw, AIA, StudioMB, Washington, DC. Builder: Potomac Valley Builders, Bethesda, Maryland. Landscape Architecture: Kevin Campion, ASLA, principal; Meredith Forney Beach, principal, Campion Hruby Landscape Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. Landscape Contractors: Planted Earth Landscaping Inc., Sykesville, Maryland, and Redux Garden and Home, Catonsville, Maryland.

The duo was given pretty much a free hand to design the landscape, measuring just under a quarter-acre, for the couple, who resided elsewhere while a renovation of the home by GTM Architects was also underway. “This was their first house with a fairly sizable outdoor space,” Richardson recounts, “and so they were leaning on us to direct them.”

The final plan imparted formal, welcoming appeal to the front of the house while enhancing outdoor living space in back. A brick walkway atop a retaining wall that ran from the front around the side of the house was extended to create a dining area covered with a wood-and-black-painted metal pergola; an adjacent lounge area with a fireplace prolongs outdoor entertaining into the cooler months. A built-in grilling station beneath the pergola is integrated with the fireplace.

A metal fence and planters filled with boxwood now adorn the retaining wall in back, which is softened by a bank of hydrangeas and boxwood. The patio overlooks an oval lawn ringed with Green Giant arborvitae and white knockout roses.

At the front of the house, a metal trellis over the garage carries semi-evergreen Snowdrift clematis and yellow jessamine vines, and a new dog run wraps around the side of the house to the back. Layers of stepped-up plantings provide the privacy the clients requested: pachysandra at ground level, then roses, hydrangeas and tall skip laurels. Adam Sexton notes the simple plant palette of creamy white flowers against the evergreen backdrop. “It fits the neighborhood perfectly,” he says. n

Landscape Architecture: Joseph Richardson, PLA, ASLA, principal; Adam Sexton, project manager, Joseph Richardson Landscape Architecture, Washington, DC. Landscape Contractor: Kohler Brafford, Black Pearl Management, Leesburg, Virginia, Washington, DC.

“I was initially perplexed,” he recalls, “because it was an area without shape. It’s not a square, it’s not a circle, it’s not a rectangle. It’s formed by a wall placed to hold the soil back and allow the house to be built.”

The overarching challenge, Brinitzer decided, was “to make some sort of recognizable form out of what was treated by the builder as leftover space.” To reduce the wall’s visual impact, he installed a custom steel trellis in front of it. Now supporting two swinging chairs, it creates a focal point and a horizon line. Fronting the trellis, a bluestone terrace with limestone insets complements the Craftsman-style house. It provides space for separate dining and lounge areas and a raised square planter containing a tall Natchez crape myrtle.

To obscure the wall and neighboring properties, Brinitzer added Japanese cedars along the property line. Slender Silhouette sweetgums were planted behind the trellis, clusters of Steeplechase arborvitae were pruned into rectangles at different heights and Miami crape myrtles with vibrant pink blooms back the seating area. Prague viburnums are arranged around the edge of the patio, and dwarf mondo grass, astilbe and maidenhair ferns border a new, curved stone stair that descends to the front yard.

“The beauty of this,” Brinitzer observes, “is that I’m using ideas I’ve used before, but in new ways. This was a challenging, not immediately obvious solution.”

Landscape Architecture: Scott Brinitzer, PLA, ASLA, Scott Brinitzer Design Associates, Arlington, Virginia. Landscape Contractor: Wildwood Landscape, Round Hill, Virginia.

With a four-foot drop between the two lots and an eight-to-10-foot elevation change on the new site, the landscape designer says the goal was to “seamlessly merge the two properties aesthetically and functionally,” providing “a private, green haven for the family.” After the adjacent house was razed, most of the one-fifth acre lot was leveled. Goffin only preserved the former home’s garage, which became the yoga studio.

A new retaining wall and cedar fence were installed near the former property line, with a series of steps leading down into the new garden. Now, views from the main house fan out to the vista below, encompassing a large, rectangular lawn, gravel paths and a fieldstone wall.

The yoga studio—clad in stucco to match the clients’ European-style Tudor house—overlooks a meditation garden accentuated by a soothing trio of Winter King hawthorn, boxwood and liriope ground cover. Chairs are gathered in front of a clipped hornbeam hedge—a gesture Goffin repeated around the perimeter of the garden to obscure neighboring houses and the street. Behind the fieldstone wall is a row of Japanese cedar and a five-foot drop filled with oakleaf hydrangea. At the bottom, an existing slate walkway connects via stepping stones up to the main house’s garden and circuitous gravel paths.

Goffin’s designs always feature a simple plant palette. “I try not to use more than five or six species,” she says, pointing out that this garden has “an architectural, orderly and effortless approach. It feels like it’s always been there.”

Landscape Design: Katia Goffin, ASLA, Katia Goffin Gardens, McLean, Virginia. Landscape Contractor: Y&A Landscaping, Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

Besides expansive views of the picturesque Miles River, what excited Arentz most was “the calm energy of the site,” he observes. “You don’t really see any other houses from it, so it feels like you’re on the water by yourself. The location has a really calming effect.”

That effect starts at the sweeping driveway, which was designed to establish an immediate sense of place and a feeling of tranquility as visitors approach and encounter their first water views. “There was a lot of thought given to the entrance drive—the sense of arrival and letting people understand that they’re actually on a peninsula,” Arentz explains.

Once up the drive, the sprawling, Shingle-style residence comes into view, adorned with a columned pediment and fronted by a courtyard rimmed in clipped hornbeam hedges, American boxwood and expanses of bottlebrush buckeye. Looking out from the nearby columned pergola, the eye is arrested by a dramatic focal point: a striking sculpture of a goose in flight by Washington, DC, sculptor John Dreyfuss. Set atop a pedestal and surrounded by lush greenery, “it just feels of the place,” says Arentz. The sculpture also draws the eye to the water beyond.

A main feature of the property is the formal lawn facing south toward the river. It flows out from the expansive porch at the back of the house, where the owners love to sit with their guests and enjoy long views across the grass to the water, with the town of St. Michaels visible in the distance. This gathering spot is also a place for the family to play games on summer evenings, while the lawn is large enough to accommodate tents for weddings and other large-scale events.

Arentz worked to create a sense of flow on the property, ensuring easy access to all the activities the family enjoys, from swimming to boating to relaxing on the porch. Existing loblolly pines stretch high into the sky, encircling the landscape and providing a stabilizing buffer between the yard and the shoreline. Arentz’s team further anchored the site by planting a mixture of hollies and trees that offer shade.

The majestic loblollies are a beautiful backdrop to a wide border of perennial flowers bursting with color and texture. This garden overflows with vibrant blooms: lilies, coneflowers, nepeta, hyssop and baptisia are punctuated by tall spikes of acanthus and softened by both large and dwarf varieties of billowy limelight hydrangea. “The perennial border is really geared to the summer months of entertaining, which is high season for the owners,” Arentz notes.

The eastern part of the property lends itself to the family’s favorite water pastimes. There is a dock from which to launch boating, crabbing, sailing and fishing expeditions, with a cottage nearby that stores fishing equipment. And when they’re not out plying the river, the residents can take advantage of water a little closer to home in the form of an expansive swimming pool with a pool house beside it.

Complete with a kitchen, bathroom and changing rooms, the pool house was designed to reflect the look of the portico and pergola attached to the main residence. A deep covered area anchored by columns faces the pool; its overhang makes al fresco dining a breeze—it’s the perfect spot for a crab feast, perhaps. Umbrellas positioned on the wide bluestone pool surround offer shady perches with views of the river beyond the loblollies.

Throughout the property, Arentz devised opportunities to meander along bluestone paths and walkways, with scenic resting spots where the owners can pause to admire garden beds or enjoy refreshments. Among other destinations, the paths lead to a guest house and tennis court—popular hubs along the site’s eastern spine. Though there’s a lot of structure and order to the property, notes Arentz, “you don’t feel it as you move from one spot to the next. The landscape feels effortless.”

Landscape Architecture: Richard Arentz, ASLA, Arentz Landscape Architects, Washington, DC.

Outdoor Escapes - Green Scene

A clever plan transforms a useless slope into a chic outdoor party space.

Read more...

Outdoor Escapes - Cutting Edge

Inviting gardens embrace a renovated 1925 Arlington bungalow.

Read more...

Outdoor Escapes - Private Spot

A natural pool and its lush surroundings celebrate the great outdoors.

Read more...

The landscape architect pitched the idea of a natural pool. Unlike conventional pools that rely on chlorine to sterilize the water, natural pools harness the relationship between beneficial bacteria and underwater plants to filter out nutrients and impurities.

Once his clients decided to take the plunge, Barnard set out to design their eco-friendly habitat. He conceived a free-form pool with two zones separated by an underwater wall; a shallow regeneration zone is situated on one side with a deeper swimming area on the other.

The plan also included a library and an apothecary/clinic used by one of the owners, a registered herbalist and nutritionist who grows more than 50 species of native medicinal plants on-site. Clad in reclaimed barn siding, the outbuildings lend a rustic touch—as does the cedar hot tub near the pool’s edge.

Barnard also created a lush landscape teeming with native vegetation and stone outcroppings. He partnered with contractor Ben Herr, who built the pool and hardscape and installed every plant, stone and boulder to mimic Mother Nature. “On a project like this,” notes Barnard, “I draw as much of it as I can, then have to trust someone like Ben to put these natural materials together in a way that’s going to look right.”

The owners are delighted with their pond-like pool and its pristine environment. Herr sums up its appeal best with a question: “Who wouldn’t want to jump into their own fresh mountain lake?”

Private Spot - Landscape Architecture: D. Miles Barnard, ASLA, RLA, South Fork Studio Landscape Architecture, Inc., Chestertown, Maryland. Landscape Contractor: Ben Herr, Anthony’s Flowers and Landscaping, Chestertown, Maryland.

Cutting Edge -  A major renovation was underway, spearheaded by Winn Design + Build.

Challenges were many on the long, quarter-acre site. Its corner location meant factoring two street views into the design. Brinitzer had to connect the house and a new freestanding garage in the backyard and screen the home from its neighbor to the south. “I was drawn to the potential to preserve the character of the house and create a casual, comfortable landscape that wasn’t overly rigid,” he says.

Throughout the garden, he defined lines and then blurred them, imparting soft, unfettered appeal. The front walk of limestone has toothed edges, as does a rear terrace that dissolves into a gravel path. “Every edge, with the exception of the seat wall, breaks and opens and doesn’t wall you off,” he explains.

Side gardens present their own allure. On the street side, instead of a heavy evergreen wall that would dwarf the house, a fluid screen of Miami crape myrtle provides privacy year-round. On the opposite side, a natural gravel path traverses randomly placed Virginia cedar, Steeplechase arborvitae and abundant perennials.

The completed landscape not only lures the homeowners outside, but also attracts an array of pollinators. “Bumblebees are everywhere,” marvels Brinitzer.

Cutting Edge - “That’s part of the environmental piece that we loved bringing to the project.”

Renovation: Winn Design + Build, Falls Church, Virginia. Landscape Architecture: Scott Brinitzer, PLA, ASLA, Scott Brinitzer Design Associates, Arlington, Virginia. Landscape Contractor: Dreamland Gardens Inc., Fairfax, Virginia. Masonry: JoPal Construction Inc., Rockville, Maryland. Lighting: Outdoor Illumination Inc., Bethesda, Maryland.

The issue: The terrain began its descent toward pristine woodland only a few feet from the home’s rear façade.

“There was no play space for their two young daughters,” recalls landscape architect Joseph Richardson, who was initially asked to build out a modest lawn. From there, he says, the owners’ plans mushroomed.

Richardson wound up overhauling the entire property, building up the backyard with massive retaining walls in a feat of engineering. The makeover forged a better connection between the front and back yards with a stairway swathed in Big Blue liriope. It also created a lawn for the kids and unfurled an expansive terrace that houses a dramatic, infinity-edge pool and a freestanding spa/water feature.

Now that the project is complete, reflects Richardson, “the pool offers a spectacular view of the natural area.” The terrace blends seamlessly into the landscape. “Full-range flagstone paving shows variations in color and texture,” he continues, “and helps soften the space.” As do native waxmyrtle, Annabell hydrangea and manicured boxwood hedges.

Along the property line, a wall of Western Maryland stone buttresses the spa, fed by water flowing through brass scuppers. A fire pit by Hart Concrete Design tempts guests to linger year-round. A staircase leads the owners past the pool’s waterfall edge and down the slope to a stream and a wooded trail—the perfect extension of their own natural idyll.

Green Scene - Landscape Architecture: Joseph Richardson, PLA, ASLA, Joseph Richardson Landscape Architecture, Washington, DC. Landscape Contractor: Black Pearl Management, Leesburg, Virginia. Pool Contractor: Jose Pimenta Construction, Rockville, Maryland.

It takes labor-intensive pruning, clipping, clearing and clean-up to ensure that the finest shrubbery and perennials achieve their natural form and lend the seasoned garden a grace and depth uncommon in the new.

A Bethesda family has overseen just such a garden for more than three decades, tended most recently by McHale Landscape Design, which won a 2020 Decade award for maintenance. A specimen wisteria has conquered a porch, while ivy and espaliered pyracantha completely hide stone walls.

“It’s a reserved garden,” says Matt Morris of McHale, who has been steward of the property for close to 15 years, working with the owners’ gardener. Morris defines the secret of maintenance as “advising what to do and more likely what not to do.”

The front yard is a classic: dogwood, azalea, rhododendron and boxwood framing a turf lawn. “Mind you, we have some deer issues that curtail what can be done,” Morris admits.

In back, the terrain is terraced, with a swimming pool slipped into a long, narrow slot at the bottom of the yard, beneath a willow. A koi pond lush with aquatic plants burbles beside a patio. Designed by McHale’s Phil Kelly, it was renovated by Morris and crew a few years ago.
“There’s not a lot of air flow,” Morris notes. “The main challenge is always water. Mother Nature just won’t stop raining on you.”

Timeless Retreat - Award: Decade for Residential Maintenance. Landscape Maintenance: Matt Morris, McHale Landscape Design, Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

The client had mandated a pool on a level side lot, but Dunlevy saw opportunities in the slope: With courageous use of cut-and-fill excavation, he addressed runoff—and was able to add an understated pool and plantings worthy of a Heritage award. “Now the client has an asset rather than a liability,” he observes.

The slope dipped 30 inches to the property line. By constructing a 36-inch-tall retaining wall at the boundary and filling it tightly with excavated soil, Dunlevy gained the right elevation for the rectangular pool with space for a spa that spills into it and a circular stone fire pit. Arborvitae and cryptomeria provide privacy. A historic wood-frame garage at one end of the pool dictated the design of an attached outdoor changing area while providing space for equipment.

The pool is bounded by a thermal Pennsylvania flagstone terrace to match an existing upper patio. A meandering path is enlivened with camellia and a Japanese maple. Out of sight but not out of mind is a large dry well topped with a bed of river stones, which manages runoff to adjacent properties. Says Dunlevy, “I always try to be as neighborly as possible. It costs a little more, but it will pay off in the end.” And that flat side lot? It became a baseball diamond.

Savvy Solution - Award: Heritage for Outdoor Living Area/Design-Build. Landscape Architecture & Maintenance: Blake Dunlevy, D.A. Dunlevy, Poolesville, Maryland. Photography: Mason Summers.

Dozens of truckloads of dirt were hauled away to transform a barren slope into a landscape designed for outdoor living and recreation.

The finished property, which won a Distinction award, is now terraced to fit a mountain of boulders; they rise six feet from the edge of a pool and serve as a retaining wall supporting holly and arborvitae. The pile of Tennessee stone doubles as a waterfall and jumping-off point for three kids. A 12-foot-wide spillway stone weighs in at three tons.

“It was pretty easy to install. The rest of the rock was in place,” says Cohen, adding that when the monster stone arrived, “the crane just lifted it up there.”

Cohen designed the pool 10 feet deep to ensure safety for adventurous water nymphs. (A lifeguard’s chair is stationed nearby.) Occupying the lower yard, a synthetic turf sports court hosts basketball and soccer games; when school facilities weren’t available during coronavirus restrictions, the team practiced on the home field.

Surrounds enhanced the existing patio, outdoor kitchen and fire pit with new lighting. Plantings include Arkansas blue star, St. John’s Wort and a mix of ornamental grasses. Pennsylvania bluestone steps lead to the sports court, which is screened from the pool by native grasses. Hanover Appian random pavers around the pool nicely complement those great big boulders from Tennessee.

Play Scape - Award: Distinction for Outdoor Living Area/Design-Build. Landscape Architecture & Installation: Howard Cohen, PLA, Surrounds, Inc., Sterling, Virginia. Photography: Judy Davis.

With an acre and mature trees already framing the property, a landscape designer can easily fashion distinct garden rooms. And if the owners happen to be collectors, those “rooms” may showcase art amid ornamental trees, flowering shrubs, grasses and perennials—all of which make maintenance essential.

On a Zen-calm Bethesda property, owners first created an Asian-inspired garden. Years later, they commissioned architect Robert M. Gurney, FAIA, to add a pool pavilion. Landscape architect Thomas Rainer, then with Rhodeside & Harwell, unified the landscape using ebullient masses of hydrangea anchored by globes of boxwood, with windblown grasses, ferns and perennials to soften the hardscape—and to set off garden sculptures such as a lettered figure by Jaume Plensa.

“There’s a matrix of reliable plants,” Rainer explains. “Most of the plant palette is ‘blowsy;’ the big thing is the looseness. Plants grow to their full height and volume.”

The task of pruning this paradise has fallen to Shorb Landscaping, a winner of this year’s Distinction award for residential maintenance. “The complexity can offer its challenges at times,” admits Ted Pleiman of Shorb, who sends a three-person team weekly to tame drifts of astilbe, coral bells, hakone grass, hosta, allium and daylily. That’s what it takes “to keep everything looking natural.”

Work of Art - Award: Distinction for Residential Maintenance. Landscape Architecture: Thomas Rainer, PLA, Phyto Studio LLC, Arlington, Virginia. Landscape Maintenance: Ted Pleiman, Shorb Landscaping, Kensington, Maryland. Photography: Melissa Clark.

Landscape Design & Contracting: Mike Miller, Sandra Moffatt, McHale Landscape Design, Upper Marlboro, Maryland. 

The owners’ wish list began with a picturesque koi pond “that they could look at from their porch,” Cohen says. They also wanted a built-in grill, a patio for dining and gathering and new hardscape. Surrounds was tasked with improving the grade and circulation; removing and trimming trees to let in more sunlight; and renovating the existing pool and hot tub. The screened porch turned out to be structurally unsound, so Cohen and his team replaced it with a new one that accesses the pool scape via a staircase.

Concrete pavers now surround the pool, with stone steppers leading past the rehabbed hot tub to the koi pond. A stone fireplace anchors the patio, which flows into the outdoor kitchen with its built-in grilling station. Carderock stone was used for the retaining walls and the fireplace, while the patio is laid with Pennsylvania bluestone. Boulders sourced in Tennessee embellish the koi pond, which is lined with Gunite like a swimming pool. “I’m not a fan of rubber liners, as they tend to have issues,” Cohen notes. The pond is four feet deep with straight sides to discourage predators from perching or wading in to feast on fish.

Evergreens such as Alaskan cedar and cryptomeria provide privacy along the edge of the property. “The clients wanted as much color as possible,” relates Cohen. Lush mondo grass is punctuated with drift roses, hydrangea and vibrant perennials.

Landscape Architecture & Installation: Howard Cohen, RLA, Surrounds, Inc., Sterling, Virginia. 

Ask Howard

What’s the best approach to a new project?
Vocalize your wants specifically. Are you casual or formal? Do you entertain? Do you want to spread out during gatherings? Also, what are you comfortable spending? If the estimate is twice what you budgeted, consider phasing the project.

How do you define outdoor rooms?
I design each space in a landscape with its use in mind. Plantings and changes of materials can set spaces apart. In this project, the patio flagstone is tailored while irregular stone by the koi pond looks more casual. Passageways also delineate areas.

How do you approach the design of a water feature?
I ask what the clients want its purpose to be. And I warn them there will be a lot of maintenance.

What are some of your favorite outdoor products?
Porcelain pavers, which complement contemporary spaces, are low-maintenance and very durable—but they are hard to work with. Natural stone is still best, as it comes in any size or shape.

Such thoughts are unavoidable when confronted by a brand new, barn-red retreat set amid a designed-to-be-rural landscape of grasses and wildflowers hard by a shimmering swimming pool. It’s not a barn—it’s a contemporary pool house in Parkton, Maryland.

The owners—a young family with three small children—enjoyed an 11-acre property with uninterrupted vistas extending across a valley of farm fields and on to the forested ridge of Prettyboy Reservoir’s 7,000-acre protected watershed. When the time came to add a pool, they called on Annapolis landscape architect Kevin Campion to design a master plan. “This is a one-of-a-kind view for Baltimore County,” says Campion, who responded to the magnificent vista to the west. “You really don’t get that topography around here very often, so we wanted to highlight it.”

He oriented the property toward the vista, providing a new entrance and circulation system and selecting the most advantageous site for the pool and pool house. Not only would they provide the best views but, he points out, they would be located far enough from the main residence to be “an event unto themselves.” The site plan also includes a “toy barn” for the owner’s recreational vehicles and a future stable with a riding ring.

Visitors now arrive at the site via a curving passage through an allée of red maple trees. A mix of evergreen holly, arborvitae, cryptomeria and spruce preserves privacy to the north. Campion used plantings to define the rest of the site, establishing a hierarchy of gardens—from ornamental near the Victorian-style residence to meadow-like toward the pool “barn” and mowed grass “paddocks” where the property meets working farmland. Linear paths of stepping stones forge a leisurely trail to the pool. Fountain grass provides the unifying aesthetic in beds, around boxwoods, under trees or simply planted en masse to effect croplands. A row of red maples behind the pool house rises like a classic farmstead windbreak.

“This is not a fancy, formal garden,” the landscape architect reflects. “It’s sort of the vernacular of a farm.” The hard part, he adds, was “keeping it distilled to simple gestures.”

Since the owners’ expansive residence, which they bought unfinished in 2011, is not visible from the road, the new structures were intended to create a public presence like typical outbuildings. Architect Adam McGraw of StudioMB, who was brought in by Campion to design the structures, recalls, “The idea was, if you were to drive by, it would sort of look like an appropriate grouping of farm buildings.”

The pool house, which measures 34 by 26 feet, is rural in spirit, with a board-and-bead exterior, stone accents and a gabled, standing-seam metal roof enhanced by exposed beams the owners had salvaged from a barn that once stood on the property. The 1,146-square-foot interior contains a year-round kitchen, dining and lounging area, plus a sleeping loft accessible via ladder. Bathroom, laundry and changing facilities are boxed below the loft. An outdoor shower enjoys privacy on the back side and a basement holds mechanical systems and pool gear.

“They have little children, so the pool house is not a grown-up man cave,” explains McGraw. “It’s a family gathering space, a place to spend an afternoon or evening.”

Sliding French doors on four sides offer pastoral views, while dormers facing east and west open the loft to light from daybreak to sundown. StudioMB project architect Jenna Bolino, who visited the site often, was struck by the way symmetry and strong axial views contributed to a sense of harmony with the landscape. “This was immediately about symmetry,” she says.

McGraw believes scale contributes to that sense of well-being. “Our clients spend all their time down here,” he reveals. “It’s the human-scale retreat, where things are cozier. That’s part of the charm.”

For Campion, the site’s special appeal comes from the way the garden, pool and pool house blend seamlessly with their agricultural and pastoral context. As he reflects, “Stone, wood, water and fire—nothing seems alien or out of place.”

Architecture: Adam McGraw, AIA, principal; Jenna Bolino, associate, StudioMB, Washington, DC. Landscape Architecture: Kevin Campion, ASLA, principal; Kevin Gaughan, project manager, Campion Hruby Landscape Architects, Annapolis, Maryland. Builder: Greg Vogel, Molior Construction LLC, Stevenson, Maryland. Landscape Contractor: Broadleaf Nurseries, Parkton, Maryland.

Current owners Mike and Ginny Borner were on the lookout for a warmer climate when they decided to move to Easton from their Westchester County, New York, residence about 10 years ago. Little did they know back then that in 2018 Forbes would name Easton one of the top five “coolest towns” in which to have a vacation home in the U.S. The magazine cited its year-round culture combining history, excellent restaurants, galleries, boutiques —and relatively low property taxes to boot. “I didn’t know what the Eastern Shore was,” recalls Mike. “We stumbled upon it and still pinch ourselves every day because we could not be happier.”

The Borners settled on a classic, 200-year-old house overlooking the water that had been renovated from time to time over the years. It had everything they desired, including a swimming pool, a guest house and a long dock where they could keep their boat.

The previous owners tapped McHale to create a master plan for the property. The landscape firm had carved out a lovely drive, lined with a long allée of cherry trees, that curves around to the front of the house, where a charming water element features a sugar-kettle fountain. The landscape was dotted with loblolly pines, magnificent old oak trees and numerous willows—from which the property takes its name, The Willows.

“Willows were part of the original farm fields and farmhouse area, so we’ve added more over the years,” says McHale landscape architect Matt Rhoderick.

When they purchased the property, the Borners were so pleased with McHale’s work that they decided to hire the firm to maintain it and make a few upgrades. As Mike explains, “They knew the property and its history, and we were happy with the appearance.” To get the ball rolling, the couple met with McHale principal Steve McHale, who later brought in Rhoderick to collaborate on the project. Initially, changes in the landscape were left to the firm. “We didn’t have many desires in the way of additions or renovations,” says Mike. “All the ideas came from McHale.”

One of McHale’s main proposals was the construction of a stone parterre garden showcasing flowering perennials including Russian sage, coneflowers, daylily, herbs and catmint, flanked by evergreens including boxwood, cherry laurel and fragrant osmanthus. The garden creates a colorful focal point—a tableau that’s visible from the kitchen. McHale also re-installed a travertine patio around the pool after the former owner replaced a previous patio with lawn.

Eventually, the Borners developed a wish list of their own. Though the firm proposed a new fountain, Ginny asked for a gazebo instead. The couple also wanted a small, enclosed space where they could enjoy casual al fresco meals. This request ultimately led to the addition of a large screened porch on the residence. “McHale came by with drawings for an addition which blended right in with the house,” says Mike.

Rhoderick adds, “The nice thing about working on a property through iterations is that you have an idea of a master plan over phases.” It’s helpful when shaping the space for a new owner, he explains, because “you can pull from that original master plan.”

Since the Borners’ property extends along the water, the team faced environmental restrictions on construction and plantings. The existing lawn was grandfathered in, but to meet Talbot County requirements, new plantings were incorporated that mitigate runoff into the Miles River. Near the swimming pool and around the guest house, for example, McHale planted an array of native shrubs and perennials; today, switchgrass, hibiscus, Black-eyed Susans, viburnum, red-twig dogwood and inkberry holly impart year-round texture and color to the landscape.

When a vacant lot adjacent to their property became available, the Borners purchased it for additional privacy. McHale turned the area into a native meadow, which screens the owners from neighbors and also meets new regulations on sustainability that help protect the environment.

Indeed, the meadow has become a standout landscape element. As Rhoderick explains, “It’s a mixture of grasses, pollinators and native plants, and they provide a succession of flowers and color throughout the year.”

Landscape Architecture: Steve McHale, RLA, principal; Matthew Rhoderick, RLA, lead designer; McHale Landscape Design, Upper Marlboro, Maryland. 

Colao & Peter built the project, which centers on an infinity-edge pool flanked by a pergola and a covered kitchen/seating area. Limestone pavers unify the hardscape, while both structures are clad in stucco with pillars of sandblasted limestone.

Beneath the pergola, a hot tub features infinity edges that spill into a basin tiled in reflective glass mosaics. Limestone steppers “float” above the basin and a freestanding stucco wall holds a linear gas fireplace and decorative panels of glass-tile mosaics. Strategically placed LED lights add romantic allure.

When the project began, a sport court already occupied one side of the backyard. The owners, who have kids, wanted to preserve it, but were prepared to demolish the surrounding landscape and start fresh. A cramped patio made way for an expansive one of Pennsylvania fieldstone, embellished with cobblestones that delineate separate zones. Carderock stone retaining walls separate the patio from the sport court and lawn; they also terrace the property, which has been regraded for better function.

Beneath a narrow, Western red cedar pergola, an outdoor kitchen is clad in Carderock stone; it features a built-in grill, fridge and stainless-steel drawers. A thermal-treated Pennsylvania flagstone countertop offers an overhang with bar seating and a dining table tucked in beside it. At the other end of the patio, a large pergola covers a spacious seating area facing a Carderock stone gas fireplace and TV. A wide staircase now accesses the upper part of the yard and sport court.

With the backyard a blank slate, Wheat’s started from scratch with landscaping, planting a screen of arborvitae behind the fireplace and a magnolia near the grill. Beds of shade-loving rhododendron, boxwood and oakleaf hydrangea soften the hardscape, while impatiens and May Night salvia add color.

Landscape Design & Installation: Luke Tirrell, project manager, Wheat’s Landscape, Vienna, Virginia. Audio/Video System: National Technology Integrators, Rockville, Maryland.

McHale’s Julie Patronik and her team conceived a design with formal, European-style elements, beginning with the approach to the home—a long drive flanked by a canopy of Y-shaped halka zelkova trees. The drive curves to reveal the sprawling, gabled house behind a stand of cryptomeria. “The idea was to be formal around the house,” Patronik recounts. “The beds by the entry are bordered by evergreens that retain their structure in winter, filled in with perennials and plenty of annual color.” The drive encircles a neat garden of boxwood and Russian sage within a retaining wall; on the side of the drive facing the house—directly opposite the front door—an iron bench nestles in a pea-gravel niche between matching flower beds.

In the more casual backyard, the landscape centers on a luxuriant lawn fringed with perennial beds. There are two patios; one with an outdoor kitchen is intended for family use while the other, anchored by a Southern Crème stone fireplace, is used for entertaining. Pea-gravel and boulder paths lead down from the patios to a lower-level outdoor room with a fireplace and TV that overlooks a picturesque custom fountain.

The home’s exterior beige-and-cream palette inspired the hardscape—a combination of Western Maryland paving stones in warm earth tones and Southern Crème stone in reds and browns. The latter also clads the fountain, kitchen and retaining walls.

ASK JULIE

What advice do you give homeowners embarking on a major landscape project?
A well-thought-out design and implementation takes time. It’s a long-term investment, so doing revisions and understanding the designer’s vision is important.

Do you have a favorite style of landscape?
I appreciate all well-designed spaces. From clean and contemporary to eclectic cottage garden—I like them all!

What trends are you seeing in outdoor spaces?
Outdoor kitchens and fire features are still going strong. Environmental concerns are evident; clients are interested in pollinator and rain gardens, composting, organic pest and weed control and capturing water in cisterns for irrigation.

What factors do you consider when selecting plantings?
We select plants based on environment and consider the ultimate size of trees, shrubs and perennials. If budget is a concern, a garden of English boxwood and Japanese maple is going to cost more than one of ornamental grasses and perennials.

Landscape Design & Maintenance: Julie Patronik, McHale Landscape Design, Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Architecture: Glenn Chen Fong, AIA, PLLC, Arlington, Virginia. Builder: Natelli Homes, LLC, Gaithersburg, Maryland.