Glen Ellen suffered devastating consequences from the Nuns Fire in 2017 and wide swaths of homes were destroyed resulting in changed perspectives and approaches to landscaping. In our work with the Sonoma County Fire Agency and CalFire, it’s become clear that the best way to save your home during a wildfire is to create non-flammable spaces around your home. In this design build project, our clients wanted to take no chances of losing their home again, but also were inspired by minimalist approaches to Adobe architecture as well as Tuscan landscapes.
References to both are found in the home’s architecture as well as the landscape, and plantings were largely foregone in favor of sweeping open spaces and focal points. The main courtyard unfolds off the entry driveway between a pair of Coast Live Oaks and expands into a vast decomposed granite courtyard with an off center Fig tree to invite visitors to see the side pathway leading into the back entertainment spaces. Multiblend ledgestone functions as a header and erosion control, diverting water away from the courtyard surface.
Drainage was a major concern as winter storms bring water from the gently sloping hills above their property to the creek at the edge of their property line. We took this as an opportunity to implement sustainable practices of slowing down storm water, and sinking it into the ground to recharge the water table and ensure our client’s well stays full year round. By adding in a dry creek bed on the uphill side of the courtyard, we slowed the water down into a 4ft deep trench lined with local stone, this allows water to collect and percolate into the surrounding soils. To prevent overflow, we installed drainage inlets throughout that sit just below the stone and about 4″ before the overflow point, those inlets lead to dry wells below the courtyard which again slows the water down, and allows it to percolate into the surrounding native soils rather than causing erosion and running straight to the creek. Lastly, we topped it off with a natural stone bridge from a large boulder we collected on the property during excavation adding a touch of naturalistic elegance and enhancing sustainability rather than importing new stone.
Entertainment and hosting friends is the primary goal of the back courtyard where additional decomposed granite patios lined with a mortar set seat wall, pizza oven, and overhead string lighting combine to set the stage for a lovely evening under the night sky. We framed the outer patio with native flowering perennials and olives, rounding off the sustainable Tuscan aesthetic and adding a touch of privacy from the neighboring vineyard service road.
Gallery Photos!
