Stanford Residence

Where there was nothing but weeds — a no-mow native meadow, deer grass and blue fescue either side of a full-range bluestone walk.

The project

A native meadow at the front door.

The owners of this mid-century wood house were done with the weeds out front. They wanted an entry experience that felt native to the site and true to the architecture.

A no-mow fescue meadow took their place, rolling right up to the front walk. It uses a fraction of the water, and holds its shape through the dry months.

The design relies on a loose, layered palette of drought-tolerant grasses and structural succulents. The hardscape, including a full-range bluestone entry walk, stays plain, so the siding and the meadow carry the front.

The design and the build were both mine: Seven Scapes, the design-build practice I ran at the time, carried the project from drawings through construction. The landscape was installed in 2012.

A full-range bluestone walk cutting between the meadow and newly mulched beds, the wood house behind — The bluestone walk through the new meadow

Grasses and low planting on the side slope below the deck, a band of orange flowers running through them — The side garden below the deck

Deer grass in full seed head against the wood siding, silver-blue festuca and a bluestone edge below — Deer grass in full plume against the siding

Before — the front of the house from across the street, dark stained siding above a verge of overgrown rosemary and dry weeds — Before — just weeds.

Project credits

Design & constructionSharon DeBell

DrivewayPeninsula Concrete

Fences & latticeJ. Perretti Decks

PhotographySharon DeBell

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