The backyard at this house in Duxbury, Mass., was completely transformed with two distinct levels: an upper area with a spa, pool, pool house and fire pit and a lower outdoor entertaining area with a kitchen, dining space and a retaining wall/seating wall built in a serpentine shape to create a nook for the dining table. Only natural stone was used in this installation by the Gardeners Landscape.

 

The spa and the raised beam are veneered with a natural product called Adirondack "Rocky Mountain Blue" that was hand cut by the landscape company's masons who changed the angle of the cuts to give them a mosaic look. They also hand cut and bullnozed the spa's and pool's "Thermo Blue" bluestone coping.

In business for 40 years and presently staffed with about 40 employees, the Gardeners Landscape of Kingston, Mass., is a landscape design/build company specializing in outdoor living and swimming pool projects.

''We are turnkey in landscape: hardscape, softscape, irrigation, night lighting, fertilization, and maintenance,'' states landscape designer Jason Pontbriant.

Recently they were contracted to turn a spacious backyard that was dominated by an upward sloping lawn into an outdoor entertaining space for the family that lived in the large house. Natural stone was the hardscape material of choice for the homeowners.

The yard's 2-foot grade change proved to be a challenge that was solved by creating two tiers. The lower level has an outdoor entertaining area with a kitchen and dining space. Two sets of entry steps lead to the upper area with a fire pit, a spa that flows into a pool, which is flanked by a pool house.

The Adirondack ''Rocky Mountain Blue'' retaining wall between the two levels acts as a seating wall for the lower tier. And it was designed in a serpentine shape to create a nook for the dining table without taking the views from the residence. Natural cleft bluestone was selected as the paving material all through the two levels.

A new bluestone entry and pergola were built to soften the scale of the large residence. Several specimen plants were placed throughout the project to accentuate the spaces they surround.

According to Pontbriant, another challenge was the client's choice of a monochromatic color scheme since the bluestone and Adirondack stone were very similar in color and hue.

''One of our solutions was to change the look of the blocky nature of the stone on the raised beam,'' he says. ''Our masons veneer cut the stone by hand on the angled side to create a mosaic look.''

Adirondack stone serves as the veneer on the kitchen counter whose top is Caledonia granite, which was also used for the column caps and the stairs to the upper level.

Natural cleft bluestone was selected as the paving material throughout. The fire pit is a kit from RH Peterson, which was then veneered with the Adirondack stone.

Colorful plantings also help offset the monochrome look. One other challenge was drainage, which required numerous slot drains and basins.

The Gardeners Landscape was involved with the masonry including coping and veneer of the pool, stone wall, outdoor kitchen and gas fire pit installations, all plantings, lawn work, irrigation and lighting.

Easton Pools from Easton, Mass., installed the gunite pool and spa. Architect Brad White designed the pool house and Dahlen Construction from Duxbury, Mass., built it. Electricians and plumbers were used for the pool house, fire pit, kitchen, and pool installation.

In total, approximately 75 different people took part on this project.

The upper and lower areas including the pool took approximately four months to build. The pool house and its bordering landscape were installed the following spring and took about five months.