The Challenge Was Steep

Design by Scenic Landscaping with Tapestry Landscape Architecture and Tranquility Pools
Photography by Heather Knapp
Text by Donna Rolando

In 2020, after a decade in their Hamptons-style home, the couple decided it was time to act. While undertaking an interior remodeling—and despite the uncertainty of COVID—they called in the Haskell-based Scenic Landscaping team, also encompassing Tapestry Landscape Architecture and Tranquility Pools, to tame their forbidding sector of the outdoors.

“I wanted it to feel like we were on vacation,” says Becky. As the kids approached their teens, she adds, “I really wanted to create a place that they would want to have friends over.” Could such a diamond emerge from this rough landscape?

Scenic Landscaping project facilitator Brian Parks agreed that the steep terrain posed a challenge, but felt it was one his team could successfully tackle with a series of custom bluestone terraces.

Poolside lounge chairs near the cabana set the stage for rays and relaxation.

“We basically redeveloped the entire backyard to accommodate that change in the grade utilizing all those different terraces,” says Parks. Stairs were fashioned that led down three levels from the house to the pool. “To work with that topography,” Parks adds, “we had to create terraces so that you could have more usable level space.” Explaining how the Pennsylvania quarry stone shored up the space, he says: “It all kind of fits together like a puzzle.”

For this undeveloped yard—basically a “blank canvas”—the couple’s wish list included a gunite concrete pool, a firepit, a spa and an outdoor kitchen, each in its own defined space. But they also wanted a substantial portion to be green grass, Parks recalls.

“They were able to achieve all their wish-list items and still keep plenty of open lawn space on the property,” he says. “When you have a property that size and you have the ability to design it, you know sky’s the limit.”

This gas firepit is one of several gathering places in this once uninviting yard.

With three divisions under Scenic Landscaping, “the mother ship,” as Parks calls it, the family worked on concept with Tapestry’s licensed landscape architects, then had their pool built by Tranquility and their entire property (front and back) landscaped by Scenic.

True to plan, the first terrace, right off the back of the house, contains that outdoor kitchen with everything a chef needs, including an Evo grill nestled in an L-shaped stone cluster. Waterfall-edge kitchen/bar countertops in granite offer both work and seating space.

Conveniently located near the house for year-round use, the spa is tucked into the custom stone masonry walls and landscaping. Across the patio from the kitchen is a gas firepit, veneered with custom bluestone, where a sectional beckons cozy conversation.

To reflect the home’s color and style, Parks says Tranquility built the pool with a “very clean and modern look,” using a gray-blue plaster finish. Milk-white porcelain patios, honed for slip resistance and cool to the toes, welcome kicking back on a chaise longue. The pool also stands out for multi-colored LED lights and a sheer descent water feature, which makes use of the elevations.

This gas firepit is one of several gathering places in this once uninviting yard.

Even with all these bells and whistles, Becky’s favorite part of the project is the landscape, which changes season by season. “Because of all the flowers we put in, I’ve actually gotten a lot more into gardening and I find it very relaxing just to be out there,” she says.

No doubt contributing to that sense of unbridled tranquility, Scenic made it a priority to envelop the property in plentiful greenery. “We were able to put evergreens and green giants around the perimeter so that you really feel like you’re in your own oasis back there,” says Parks.

With multiple layers of plantings protected by deer fencing, he explains, “you can see different colors at different times of the year.” But the focal point, says Parks, just may be the hornbeams that frame the cabana, letting nature provide the desired shade. “Those are strategically placed there to do just that, frame that structure. So, it’s a focal point and it looks absolutely beautiful,” he says.

As a result of this makeover, family members no longer steer clear of their yard. “Any weekend it’s sunny I sit out there,” says Becky. “The first thing we probably all did was sit out there and read a book at the pool.”

Hydrangeas are not the only eye candy in this yard, where each season introduces new flora