ARTIST'S RETREAT

Bridgehampton, NY

This property in the East End of Long Island (Bridgehampton, NY) acts as a creative retreat for an architect husband and artist wife. Keeping in line with the design strategies behind the site’s new architecture (architect’s office, art studio, personal gym, and pool house,) the landscape design seeks to facilitate the household’s various amenities and provide entertainment opportunities in ways that encourage relaxation, contemplation, and creativity. Beresford Landscape Design created a landscape plan and planting strategy that compliments the bold and striking nature of the architecture’s modern aesthetic, while taking direction from Long Island’s unique landscape conditions.

 

A grand lawn panel – enclosed by long runs of Hydrangea and framing a centrally placed white sculpture – lead to the landscape’s primary area of focus: a 50’ long pool surrounded by sleek modern glass enclosures. Extended spans of ornamental grasses line the pool, with golden reeds that reflect off the glass and pool surfaces for the entirety of summer and autumn. A Rose garden surrounded by a low Boxwood border is designed as a simplified parterre garden, providing a focal point between the terrace’s dining/lounge area and the tennis court.

 

The planting design centered between the site’s buildings and around the pool terrace reflect the minimalism and simple forms of that architectural style. But, behind the buildings and the tennis court, more varied planting opportunities can be created. A continuous Arborvitae border and mature Zelkova trees help to frame a modified take on a traditional “pleasure garden.” A network of wide, winding lawn paths is flanked by an assortment of different shrub and perennial plantings. A large portion of the path network is dedicated to a native pollinator meadow, a planting designed to thrive in the conditions specific to eastern Long Island. The planting palette was selected for its ability to thrive in the site’s quick-draining soils, and to tolerate the summer drought conditions frequent to the area. The meadow species are a blend of native species and hybrid cultivars chosen for their pollinator benefits, and arranged in combinations that provide continual year-round interest.

Credits:

Photography: Anthony Crisafulli

Plant installation: Cruz Polin