Skilled Crafters' Long Labor Reaps Award-Winning Design Result
Southport, Maine
At the award winning residential landscape in coastal Maine, the “infinity edge” pool, native stone, seaside plantings, and biomorphic shapes blur the edge between created and natural landscapes.
The outdoor fireplace of native stone and its surrounding boulder plantings was dubbed “the outdoor living room” by the owner.
A unique new landscape, emerging over three years from the coastal ledge of Pratt’s Island in Southport, has been recognized with the Merit Award for Professional Design from the Rhode Island chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (RIASLA). Gates, Leighton and Associates, Inc. (GLA), a landscape architecture firm with offices in Brunswick, ME and Providence, RI, created the design and accepted the award on behalf of the entire team of landscape crafters when it was announced on December 9.
Set among the rocky cliffs, native woodland and wave-tossed seaside bluffs of the 5.5 acre site, the landscape created for a new “grand Maine cottage” includes extensive gardens of native plants and large areas of forest restoration. A “disappearing edge” swimming pool, outdoor fireplace, and terraces were all created from native stone, much of it ledge stone found at the site.
We took cues from the native ledge and vegetation and particular care was taken to highlight and showcase the natural features. For instance, the pool’s biomorphic form and infinity edge blur the line between the created and natural landscapes.
“The site master plan, which includes the main house, landscape, and several outbuildings, was entirely organized by the existing landscape,” says Arek Galle, project landscape architect. “We took cues from the native ledge and vegetation and particular care was taken to highlight and showcase the natural features. For instance, the pool’s biomorphic form and infinity edge blur the line between the created and natural landscapes.”
A notable aspect of the project was the productive teamwork shared between the large number of local master craftspeople required to create such a landscape. Ledge Hill Creations Masonry, and Back Meadow Farm, Landscape Contractor, contributed many months of landscape artistry. Top-notch surveyors, pool contractors and landscape lighting designers, all from the surrounding area, coordinated successfully with GLA for more than three years as the house and its landscape features evolved.
The Rhode Island chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects holds its awards program biannually. Submissions are “blind” until the judges have made their awards. The judges this year were a distinguished team of landscape architects from the Georgia ASLA chapter; Rhode Island will judge the Georgia awards later this season.
