A project in Hope, Maine, 2010

What we found

Building walls

Our first task was to deal with drainage issues on the site and then to build walls that would both retain the land above the house and shape the space.

Layers of walls

Rather than build one monolithic wall around the house, we terraced the slope with layers of walls, some organized, some loose.

Adding plant material

Our plan is to naturalize the landscape so the hillside will look like it flows right up to the house, so we planted on both sides of the walls, using much of the same type of vegetation already present on the site.

Finishing touches

We added a pine needle path to finish the project. Now all it needs is a few years for the plants to fill in and the rocks to start weathering in place.

The other side of the house

The view from the porch of this new home includes Alford Lake in the distance.

More rock work

Of all the rock we used on this project, the flat stone for the patio was the only rock we did not find on the property already.

We found a birdbath

The owners wanted a natural stone birdbath to be part of this project, and we found this beauty in the woods not far from the house.