Landscape Architect Articles

LASN 2010 Firms: Graham Landscape Architecture09-02-10 | News

Graham Landscape Architecture,
Annapolis, Md.

Graham Landscape Architecture, established in 1984, crafts classic landscapes for urban, country and waterfront estates and historic properties primarily in the mid-Atlantic coastal and Piedmont regions.

Creating private retreats is the firm’s specialty. Their distinctive designs connect landform and architecture, blending house and gardens. Bold yet simple, they are interpretations of architectural style and cultural and historical influences, applied within the context of client aspirations and landscape characteristics. Projects bespeak understated elegance, meaningful harmony of details and accents, sustainability, low-seasonal maintenance requirements and environmental friendliness.

Principle: Jay Graham, FASLA
Designers: 8
Software: MacBooks, VectorWorks, Sketch-up, InDesign, Adobe Photoshop

Cattail Creek Farm Residence, Howard County, Md.

At Cattail Creek Farm, 400 acres of jeopardized farmland is now carefully sculpted residential estate, capturing and preserving the beauty of the land and enhancing its ecological health and quality. Undulating wooded berms capture the essence of the rural past and create magnificent vistas. On-site rural amenities include woodlands, farmland, a stream, a dell and a pond.
The new entry road creates an experience reminiscent of a ride through the countryside, transitioning through meadows, agricultural fields and woodlands.
Stepped retaining walls function as a pool enclosure on one side and a sitting wall overlooking the pond on the other. Terraced fountains, grottos, cascades and pools enhance the undulating typography.

Georgetown Residence, Washington, D.C.

Graham Landscape Architecture worked with the clients to create finely detailed, intimate garden rooms for this Georgetown residence built in 1820. The Fountain Terrace uses reclaimed brick to complement exposed brick walls in the home. Junipers, boxwood, ophiopogon, pachysandra and a paperbark maple are attractive year round interest; hydrangea, magnolias, bulbs and mature wisteria add seasonal interest.
The Dining Terrace’s bluestone-banded, herringbone and running bond brick “rug” is softened by plantings. A custom mahogany and stainless steel pergola is draped with a trumpet vine.
The Lawn Terrace has a bluestone and brick border. The custom mahogany fence is the backdrop to an aerial hornbeam hedge.
The Spa Terrace has an elevated boxwood hedge. Magnolias, ferns and the mahogany fence enhance privacy.
The Entry Garden’s lush plantings and curvilinear bluestone path offer an inviting garden view from the street. An18-ft. weeping cherry, a 26-ft. stewartia and boxwoods were transplanted from the old rear garden.

Residence, McLean, Va.

A long terrace extends along the home’s rear façade to offer views of the gardens below. A spa is tucked into the hillside garden at one end and a rusticated wall and urn fountain at the other. Details include lawn ‘rugs’ cut out of the scalloped bluestone paving, and limestone plaques with personalized inscriptions. Underground storage tanks collect surface runoff.
The pool terrace has five tapered stone columns with classical entasis along the pool edge. A stone privacy wall with stucco inset panels and custom limestone pendants draw in light. Other elements are a cedar pergola with limestone brackets and kiwi vine and an Italian wall fountain. Flowering shrubs and perennials bring color and texture to the terraces.
A simple expanse of lawn is the nucleus of the gardens. A sports terrace is shielded from the other garden rooms by a grove of gingko and cryptomeria trees.
The parking court offers finely textured patterns and custom bluestone. A side grove of river birch and ferns surrounds a winding stone path and bridge.

Wye Hall Estate, Queen Anne’s County, Md.

This American Palladian Colonial Revival house was built in 1935 on the footprint of an 18th century home that was once half of a 2,800-acre island in the Chesapeake. Today, 90 percent of the island is a state natural resource area.
All work near the house protected underground archaeological resources. Island beds near the house soften the house and create more intimate spaces. The herb garden has heritage dwarf fruit trees nestled around a historic smokehouse. A domestic-scaled cutting garden sports annuals and perennials.