Yard of the Week: Outdoor Rooms and Experiences Engage the Senses
A Massachusetts property gains indoor-outdoor connections in a design inspired by the home’s midcentury modern style
Upon buying this 5-acre property surrounded by conservation land in Dover, Massachusetts, these homeowners wanted to become stewards of the land. They also wanted outdoor spaces that would complement their home’s midcentury modern architecture. Working with landscape architect Inge Daniels, they installed the landscape in phases beginning in 2016. Close to the house, Daniels created outdoor rooms and experiences that engage all the senses, while all over the property, he helped them establish meadows and healthy woodland edges.
A meadow within a large driveway circle is a recent installation. “This is a large, predominantly native, stylized meadow,” Daniels says. While this meadow is manicured and contains a lot of textures via perennials and shrubs, she’s established a wild meadow beyond the driveway, out of this photo’s frame.
Daniels approaches landscapes as something to be experienced by the senses. “On this path, you are immersed in these plants. The sound of the wind moves through them, and you hear hawks in the trees. You feel and hear the gravel crunch under your feet as you’re walking,” she says. The eye takes in the rich textural and color palettes. Some of the plants are fragrant, engaging the sense of smell.
Daniels approaches landscapes as something to be experienced by the senses. “On this path, you are immersed in these plants. The sound of the wind moves through them, and you hear hawks in the trees. You feel and hear the gravel crunch under your feet as you’re walking,” she says. The eye takes in the rich textural and color palettes. Some of the plants are fragrant, engaging the sense of smell.
The house was designed and built by a student of Walter Gropius, one of the masters of modern architecture and the founder of the Bauhaus movement. Working with the existing architecture was a priority.
Before, a large yew hedge covered elegant tapered posts at the front entry. Daniels had it removed and reworked the area. To the left, she planted a trio of native serviceberries (Amelanchier sp.) that provide year-round interest. She reports that she and the homeowners have been working on a native ground cover mix in the mulch beneath them, and that the area has filled in a lot since this photo was taken.
To the right of the walkway, she planted climbing hydrangeas that will ascend the trellis against the house.
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Before, a large yew hedge covered elegant tapered posts at the front entry. Daniels had it removed and reworked the area. To the left, she planted a trio of native serviceberries (Amelanchier sp.) that provide year-round interest. She reports that she and the homeowners have been working on a native ground cover mix in the mulch beneath them, and that the area has filled in a lot since this photo was taken.
To the right of the walkway, she planted climbing hydrangeas that will ascend the trellis against the house.
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“This is kind of a backward house in that the main living areas are all along this south-facing side of the house, opposite the entry side,” Daniels says. The indoor and outdoor spaces look down the long lawn to a pond and woodlands.
In educating her clients, Daniels focused on three main ideas. One was massing, which means creating large gestures and movement through the space, just as you would with architecture. For example, her clients had received some peonies as a gift. Rather than planting them here and there, Daniels recommended making them part of a larger feature, such as a mixed planting bed.
The second was creating indoor-outdoor connections. This meant connecting the landscape to the house and creating outdoor rooms. In addition, it meant keeping the views at the forefront, whether from indoors or out.
The third principle was working with texture in the landscape. While the design plays off the strong lines of the home’s architecture, it also plays with contrast. One example is the interplay between the soft plants and the sharp architectural lines of the house. Another is the contrast of natural textures and colors against the clean white walls and large expanses of glass.
In educating her clients, Daniels focused on three main ideas. One was massing, which means creating large gestures and movement through the space, just as you would with architecture. For example, her clients had received some peonies as a gift. Rather than planting them here and there, Daniels recommended making them part of a larger feature, such as a mixed planting bed.
The second was creating indoor-outdoor connections. This meant connecting the landscape to the house and creating outdoor rooms. In addition, it meant keeping the views at the forefront, whether from indoors or out.
The third principle was working with texture in the landscape. While the design plays off the strong lines of the home’s architecture, it also plays with contrast. One example is the interplay between the soft plants and the sharp architectural lines of the house. Another is the contrast of natural textures and colors against the clean white walls and large expanses of glass.
These stairs lead down from the driveway at the entry side of the house. The homeowners wanted a small grilling deck directly off the kitchen. Daniels installed a wood deck and included a matching bench that incorporates storage.
“It’s a small deck, but it’s a great spot to sit and hang out with someone while they are grilling,” she says.
“It’s a small deck, but it’s a great spot to sit and hang out with someone while they are grilling,” she says.
Before, there had been some odd stone walls off either side of the back of the house. They curved around, and the areas inside were filled with crushed gravel. One of these areas was here. “These were not welcoming or easy to occupy. And they didn’t go with the architecture,” Daniels says. There were also clumps of juniper shrubs that blocked access from some of the outdoor spaces to the yard.
This new outdoor room is a shady and informal bluestone patio with lawn joints. All the bluestone Daniels used is thermal monolithic. The stone’s crisp edges respond to the architecture of the house. Along the left side is a planting bed that incorporates her clients’ peonies. The plantings mix textures and include grasses, native perennials and existing wisteria that Daniels preserved; it twines up the corner of the covered porch.
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This new outdoor room is a shady and informal bluestone patio with lawn joints. All the bluestone Daniels used is thermal monolithic. The stone’s crisp edges respond to the architecture of the house. Along the left side is a planting bed that incorporates her clients’ peonies. The plantings mix textures and include grasses, native perennials and existing wisteria that Daniels preserved; it twines up the corner of the covered porch.
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Rounding the corner to the south-facing side of the house, we see a series of outdoor rooms that Daniels built off an existing bluestone porch. “My clients love to hang out outdoors, they love to entertain, and they love to watch their kids play,” she says.
The existing bluestone on this dining porch was not in good shape, so Daniels replaced it. Once she removed the juniper, stone walls and gravel, she revived the outdoor spaces and created a crushed-gravel path to connect them. This path’s bluestone edging ties it to the bluestone porch floor. It also forms a gravel planting bed between the porch and the path. Both the gravel path and the plantings add textural and tonal contrast.
Bright flowers pop against the white house. To engage the sense of smell, Daniels chose plants with pleasing fragrances: lavender, thyme and sedum. Just as in the driveway meadow path, gravel crunches beneath the feet here.
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Bright flowers pop against the white house. To engage the sense of smell, Daniels chose plants with pleasing fragrances: lavender, thyme and sedum. Just as in the driveway meadow path, gravel crunches beneath the feet here.
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Though the original bluestone was ripped out, using the same material to replace it honors the property’s history. Daniels repeated the material in different forms. For example, the informal bluestone patio has lawn joints, and the path has bluestone edging and bluestone steppingstones.
The gravel planting bed extends out from the porch; then there’s the gravel path, the lawn and the woods beyond. These additions create a nice transition from the house to the outdoor rooms an then on to the more natural landscape.
This view from inside the house looks out across the bluestone patio. It shows how much the home’s architect thought about indoor-outdoor connections. The hardwood flooring has an original bluestone edge indoors. This provides a connection to the bluestone patio outside the windows. The original architect also included a long series of greenhouse windows on the back of the house to forge a connection to nature.
In front of the home’s existing greenhouse windows, the path transitions from gravel to steppingstones with irregular edges. “This is more of a rock garden,” Daniels says. Fragrant lavender and thyme frame the pavers, enhancing the sensory experience.
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The path terminates in this new cantilevered deck. Daniels had the supports tucked under as far as she could without sacrificing structural integrity, and had them painted a dark color. This gives the illusion that the deck floats above the grass. The far side of the deck contains a lounge area around a fire bowl. It marks an edge where the built landscape ends and the canopy trees of the woodland begin.
Part of the homeowners’ stewardship of the land means trying to eradicate invasive plants. In cleaning up some of the overgrown edges of the woodlands, they learned that the resulting increased sunlight can allow invasive species to establish and thrive. So Daniels advised planting natives trees such as sassafras and native shrubs such as bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus Parviflora; USDA zones 4 to 8; find your zone) to prevent invasive species from taking over. “The biggest invader we have here is poison ivy,” she says. The homeowners have been keeping in touch with her for advice throughout the landscape’s evolution.
Part of the homeowners’ stewardship of the land means trying to eradicate invasive plants. In cleaning up some of the overgrown edges of the woodlands, they learned that the resulting increased sunlight can allow invasive species to establish and thrive. So Daniels advised planting natives trees such as sassafras and native shrubs such as bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus Parviflora; USDA zones 4 to 8; find your zone) to prevent invasive species from taking over. “The biggest invader we have here is poison ivy,” she says. The homeowners have been keeping in touch with her for advice throughout the landscape’s evolution.
While lounging near the gas fire bowl, the homeowners can look down the fragrant path and the lawn to the pond and the woods.
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Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A family
Location: Dover, Massachusetts
Size: About 5 acres
Landscape architect: Inge Daniels Design
Landscape installation: Curbs Studio
Set on a bucolic landscape surrounded by conservation land, the house has a wonderfully secluded feeling. “These owners are very engaged in learning about ecology and supporting the flora and fauna,” Daniels says. “It’s been an education all around, and it’s the most gardening they’ve ever done in their lives. They are loving it.”
She began with a master plan for the property, and her team has been working on different parts of the yard for the past eight years. “My clients understand that a landscape is evolving and that there is a lot of variability,” Daniels says. Certain plants may thrive; others may not. Invasive species may come in. Or a big group of groundhogs may take up residence.
“People’s needs may evolve over time too,” she says. For example, one of the homeowners’ sons enjoys playing lacrosse and hitting golf balls at home, so for now, they are maintaining the mown lawn area out back. But once he grows up and moves out, they may decide to create a meadow out there.
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