The 2017 CTC&G IDA Winners: Landscape Design

The entrance to this Washington, CT, garden landscape is announced with an evocative antique lamppost and a simple gate that beckons through fieldstone walls.

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Plantings, Ronald LeBlanc, Grass & Gardens. General contractor, Churchill Builders. Pergola: Dining chairs, Kingsley Bate. Lanterns, Classic Lighting Devices

All of the elements that Haver & Skolnick Architects introduced into the garden were meant to highlight the property’s rolling hills, capture the distant mountain views, and reference the land’s agrarian past.

The team of designers created a variety of memorable experiences. A winding driveway lined with maples and rhododendrons passes a chicken coop and ends in a courtyard with views of the nearby antique barns, natural cedar structures, a gazebo and dining pergola, and even a wagon shed.

Wesley Stout Associates recognized that as both a home and working farm, this Sharon property, dubbed Q-Farm, needed to combine traditional farm elements with practical home living needs. Situated high on a ridge overlooking the Housatonic River Valley, the designers positioned a pool court so that it embraced the scenic, far-reaching vistas.

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Architect, Reese Owens Architects. Builder/CM, Brenner Builders. Landscape/Masonry, North Stone. Meadow areas: Larry Weaner Landscape Associates. Pool, Haggerty Pools. Masonry materials, The Stone Resource. Furniture, Dedon.

They sited a terraced garden below and erected sculptural fencing on the sweeping meadows that serves to protect the farm inhabitants, which include pigs, chickens and cattle. Just as the self-sustaining farm is a model for modern-day farming methods, so too is the landscaping an exemplar of how a garden can be both practical and beautiful.

The transformation of a sloping 20-acre site in Lyme involved rerouting a steep driveway through a picturesque woodland landscape, enhancing native forest and grassland habitats already in place, and capturing as many scenic views as possible of the Connecticut River. The client, who serves on major philanthropic boards, also stipulated to Anne Penniman Associates that outdoor entertaining areas be sufficient in scale to accommodate event tents and be protected with retaining walls.

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Architect, George Penniman Architects, LLC. General contractor, AJ Shea Construction. Surveyor, Richard Gates Surveying. Civil engineer, Thomas Metcalf. Structural engineer, E2 engineers. Ecologist, Kenneth Metzler. Landscaping and masonry, Moyer’s Landscape Services. Landscaping, Gene Gossage Gardening. Masonry, Perreault Masonry. Pool and spa, Wagner Pools. Site lighting, Aurora Lighting. Planters, Italian Terrace.

As an homage to the meandering river that flows just beyond, the designers created a series of stone walls that meander through the site while weaving together lawn paths, rain gardens and planting beds.

The plan for this hilltop Greenwich property features an innovative mix of both wild and formal elements. Our judges loved the drama of the espaliered lime trees, as well as the boxwood parterre gardens.

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Landscape Contractor, Ceci Brothers Pots, Luna Form, Bronzino Furniture, Munder Skiles.

The designers also improved the entrance to the house, removing a turning circle and replacing it with a cobbled parking space framed by brick walls that were lime-washed to add texture.

This Old Greenwich waterfront property was struck by Hurricane Sandy, so the plan put in place is both sophisticated and storm-safe.

Additional Resources
General Contractor, O'Dell Construction. Pool Contractor, Shoreline Pools. Landscape Contractor, Roberto Fernandez Landscaping.

Today, the pool and entertainment terraces wrap around the home as natural extensions of its interior spaces. For example, the expansive pool and dining terrace are raised up to the level of the house, with gracious stone steps leading onto the lawn, gardens and sandy beach.