A twenty-five acre country estate in northern Baltimore County, Maryland developed in collaboration with Ratcliffe Architects, Patrick Sutton, and Kirk Designs. Formal gardens were designed around the hilltop country manor house in a way that engages both the architecture and the broader landscape beyond. A new pool and garden are terraced into a hillside, with a hot tub nestled into the slope amongst large boxwoods and overlooking the main pool. As noted in the January/February issue of Mid-Atlantic Builder, this pool landscape received an “Award Of Excellence” for “outstanding design and craftsmanship” in the “Outdoor Living” category.
Additional design features on the grounds include a knot garden, a formal entry parking court, and a walled courtyard for homeowner and service parking. Site hardscape detailing plays off the architecture, and landforms were developed to create generous outdoor spaces. The planting design reinforces the garden spaces. Direction was also provided on driveway re-construction and on site drainage. The scale of the house reconstruction and expansion allowed for the complete alteration of the existing minimal landscape. Working around the few existing large canopy trees, the site was transformed into an elegant series of gardens surrounding the manor house and set against a restored rural landscape.
Land stewardship strategies included shifting pasture fence lines in order to protect riparian corridors, removal of exotic, invasive species along hedgerows and drainages, and conversion of lawn areas to less frequently mowed meadows.
Jamie Brown started this project while at Graham Landscape Architecture, and he and Clay Coulston, through Beechbrook, continued to provide design consultation on this project in subsequent years. Lothorian Pools assisted with certain aspects of the pool design, and they constructed the pool with observation by Jamie Brown.