OUTDOOR DESIGN - A Stately Residence

A pergola is surrounded by trumpet vines, lantana, boxwood and ferns.

A grand allée of willow oaks lines the entrance to this 25-acre Potomac, Maryland, property, a perfect welcoming touch to both a stately residence and an ordered landscape that’s home to polo ponies as well as a large family. Jay Graham, FASLA, and Kevin Campion, ASLA, of Graham Landscape Architecture, were brought in by DC-based architect David Jones to design a landscape that would complement the grand Georgian-style residence, which includes a wing with an indoor swimming pool, staff apartments and a garage.

 

According to Campion, because the family spends a lot of time outside, the garden “was laid out as a series of outdoor spaces.” Adjacent to the indoor swimming pool there’s a winter garden with evergreens and river birch trees. In front of the house, an herb garden is tucked into a nook outside the kitchen, and at the rear, bluestone terraces span the width of the home between the garage and the pergola that leads to the pool garden. The landscape also includes an English perennial border; a spacious lawn large enough for weddings; and two long allées of flowering crape myrtles with overlooks at the ends, providing views of the pastures and dressage ring.

Graham says he “looks at what the architect is doing,” and tries “to extend it out into the landscape.” In this case, he adds, “The garden is formal in a casual way. The organization gives it some clarity and there’s a relaxed feeling almost everywhere.”