Dale Lang of NRockwood Cabinets Dale Lang of NW Architectural Photography

Paul Jonason

This rose garden is half hidden and the curving path entices you to explore further. Creating a sense of mystery by partially obscuring the boundaries of the garden increases the sense of space. photo: Diane Hayford

We were contacted by the owner of a Houston, Texas home who asked us to design a series of gardens and landscaping features that would compliment and expand the Mediterranean theme of his house into the surrounding landscape. This house sat on a very large lot of several acres in a secluded Memorial Drive neighborhood located near the 610 Loop. The home featured a symmetrical, linear appearance in spite of its two-story build, and our client wanted a landscape and garden design that would follow these same principles of self-contained regularity and subtle linear motion. Creating a Mediterranean theme in a Houston, Texas garden and landscape is a bit more complex that it might appear at face value. The southern coast of Europe—particularly in Italy and Greece—is a mountainous area where homes and gardens are built on steep angles and sharp vertical rises. Gardens and fields are often built in terraces that climb the mountains due to the limited planting area and rough, rocky terrain. Limestone is the predominant rock type in Italy and Greece and has become iconic of this part of the world in our collective consciousness. Mediterranean homes and gardens are historically famous for their white stucco walls, olive groves, and carefully sculptured greenery embedded in a rugged limestone backdrop. The challenge lay in taking an essentially three-dimensional landscaping style and transfering it to a Houston property. As we all know, this part of Texas is very flat, so a hillside garden is out of the question in the literal sense. However, using a combination of symmetrical forms and linear progressions, along with some innovative garden materials, we were able to mimic several aspects of seaside European terrain. The key to doing this was to establish a combination of circular forms and linear patterns in the multiple garden elements we designed. French and Italian gardens place a heavy emphasis on order and symmetry, and both tend to utilize right angles to establish form. We planted a variety of low level growth around the house and rear swimming pool patio to emphasize its walls and corners. We then added three keynote forms to the landscape to create a Houston equivalent of a Mediterranean garden. The first of these forms was a knot garden centered on the front door, located just in front of the home’s motorcourt. We planted boxwoods in three circular rows that looked like terraces on a hillside. In the center of the knot garden we planted Loropatalum, punctuated with a lone Crinum lily as the center piece. The rich purple of the Loropatalum draws catches the eye, and the vertical dimension added by the lily draws it upward to the front entrance of the house. Moving then to one side of the house, we transformed a substantial portion of the yard into a parterre garden that centered on a large glass room that extended from the west wing of the house. This garden was populated by low-growth rose bushes whose amenability to constant trimming makes them an ideal plant material for parterre gardens, and whose colorful blooms a made them stand out from multiple vantage points throughout this Houston neighborhood. The garden borders were made from of boxwood hedges, and the central pathways were made using European limestone gravel that mimics the color of the limestone cliffs of the Aegean and Adriatic Seas. We then completed the design by adding dwarf yaupon, a small shrub that bears a curious resemblance to clouds, all along the borders of the gravel walkways. This helped create the impression that the garden was located on a hilltop near the sea, and that the clouds were rolling across the shoreline. One of the most appealing attributes of this Houston, Texas property is its superb location. The back of the yard borders a 50-foot ravine carved out of the earth by a major tributary of Buffalo Bayou. This seemed to us a natural destination spot for garden guests to visit after strolling around the west wing of the home to the pool. To encourage them to do so, we planted an alley of crepe myrtles leading from the pool area all the way back to the woods along the ravine. We then built a walkway out of limestone aggregate blocks that started at the parterre garden, ran alongside the house to the pool, then ran straight out through the alley of trees to the scenic overlook of the forest and stream below. For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's fine neighborhoods.

Guest cottage forecourt, with flagstone paving, also created by removing a section of the driveway. The planting and pots compliment the style of the house. This garden has been featured on the Marin Ecological Garden Tour 2009 through 2011. Simmonds & Associates, Inc.

Brevin Blach

Dennis Mayer Photographer

This restoration and addition had the aim of preserving the original Spanish Revival style, which meant plenty of colorful tile work, and traditional custom elements. Custom tile work on the floor and shower captures period style.

The best gatherings seem to end up in the kitchen. Coordinating cocktail and coffee bars allow guests to feel at home, and the spacious layout allows for multiple chefs. The charmingly distressed cabinets and mismatched chairs ensure a relaxing time will be had by all. Floor: 6-3/4” wide-plank Vintage French Oak | Rustic Character | Victorian Collection | Tuscany edge | medium distressed | color Stone Grey | Satin Hardwax Oil For more information please email us at: sales@signaturehardwoods.com

This is an elegant, finely-appointed room with aged, hand-hewn beams, dormered clerestory windows, and radiant-heated limestone floors. But the real power of the space derives less from these handsome details and more from the wide opening centered on the pool.

Greenery on a wood structure creates privacy for this swimming pool and spa backyard with an outdoor kitchen and spa. The stone veneer used in the fireplace, outdoor kitchen, and swimming pool is Eldorado Rustic Ledge. Photos by Deidre Walpole

Architect: Bob Easton AIA General Contractor: Allen Construction Photographer: Jim Bartsch Photography

This Palo Alto home’s traditional Spanish styling incorporates multi-level roofing, with red terra cotta tiles and signature design elements, including a dramatic arched entryway and decorative grille work. Finely crafted materials take center stage in the two-story entrance salon, which features a cascading staircase rising over glowing hardwood flooring. The home’s period-appropriate architecture is punctuated by loft ceilings, plaster walls, and an open, flowing floor plan. The spacious basement recreation room is the ideal gathering spot, with a snack bar, billiards, and foosball tables. A customized home theater completes the picture, with plush recliners, ambient lighting, and a professional-quality digital movie projector. Architect: Stoecker and Northway Architects

Garden makeovers by Shirley Bovshow in Los Angeles. Homeowner wanted a natural style garden with Mediterranean and native California plants. An avid hiker, the homeowner now has her own decomposed granite "trail." Photo by Shirley Bovshow, http://EdenMakersBlog.com