The 2017 NYC&G IDA Winners: Garden Design

Renée Byers was hired to design a swimming pool for a property in Woodstock, but rather than take the easy way out and plop it on the site’s single flat area, she positioned it on a slope that screens the pool from the road and offers views of the countryside. A plinth carved into the hill allows easy access to the pool from both levels of the house; an L-shaped retaining wall tames the grade.

“It works beautifully with the landscape,” says judge Matthew Patrick Smyth. “It’s a smart, simple design that has subtle depth and elegance.”

The owners of this 21-acre farm in Westchester called on Carol Kurth to redo the grounds of their stone-and-clapboard home, which included creating a dramatic new arrival scheme. Kurth and Diane Bilgore designed an inviting boxwood courtyard, planted several pockets of purple alliums, and installed raised beds for growing organic produce. Judge Caleb Anderson calls the sculptural makeover “elegant, beautiful, and fresh.”

Situated atop a Midtown building, this 2,800-square-foot terrace is a lush multi-level, multi-room oasis with a design inspired by the Art Deco period’s Streamline Moderne style. “This rooftop has it all,” raves judge Judy Ross—and indeed it does: The space contains a spa, a breakfast nook, and separate dining, entertaining, and yoga terraces, all with a view of the Empire State Building.

The overall site development includes restoration of an acre of lawn hillside into native meadow and a woodland terrace/path system connection to an adjacent Nature Preserve. Recycled granite slab stones for the bridge, steps and walkways, along with reuse of site boulders and fieldstone for waterfalls, sitting walls and patios, resulted in a seamless integration of the natural and man-made.

The house and the pool are carefully sited and are in concert with the landscape and surrounding environment. The detailing of the small elements tied the design together and created the finished product of this beautiful outdoor living room.