In-Town Retreat

Tucked onto a compact in-town lot, this home needed its garden to do a lot in a small footprint: screen two close neighbors, soften a strong diamond-angled architecture, and still feel generous. A dense hedge of columnar Norway spruce and Mohican viburnum runs the property line, turning what could have been an exposed yard into a private one. Closer to the house, the materials match the architecture’s own restraint – Blue Noble Spanish limestone pavers and wall caps, Oakley stone veneer, and a reclaimed granite cobblestone motor court, with snowmelt tucked under the stone so winter never gets in the way of getting to the door. Out back, a simple lawn panel is bordered by an all-white perennial planting – cranesbill, astilbe, bugbane, coneflower, sage – under a line of littleleaf linden for shade, with ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea and alpine currant filling out the beds beneath columnar spruce and Douglas fir. Even the practical pieces got attention: a paver ramp down to a dog run, a dedicated spot for bikes, built in rather than bolted on.