At a glance
- The brief
- Create a complete landscape that complements a renovated contemporary home.
- The site
- The design had to connect multiple arrival and outdoor living areas across the property.
- The work
- Vanishing-edge pool, spa, fireplace, water feature, office terrace, kitchen, planting, lighting, and irrigation.
- The palette
- Silver travertine, flagstone details, soapstone counters, stucco, and white brick.
Spring Hill extends a renovated modern home into a whole-property landscape. McHale's account includes a vanishing-edge pool and spa, fireplace, water feature, outdoor kitchen, office terrace, and two arrival courts. Herb and vegetable beds introduce a productive use among the more architectural spaces.
Contemporary architecture, everyday uses
That combination is worth noticing. A contemporary composition does not have to be limited to visual restraint and entertaining. Ordinary tasks—picking herbs, stepping outside from a desk, carrying food to a table—can give its geometry a practical purpose.
A material family links the property
Silver travertine appears across the entertaining terraces, with flagstone details, soapstone counters, stucco, and white brick also listed. Synthetic cabinetry forms part of the outdoor kitchen account. These are different surfaces for different jobs, held together through their relationship to the house.
Broad areas of repeated material can connect these spaces before smaller details are added. The paving carries the eye between destinations; smaller counter and wall details provide variation at close range. A disciplined palette leaves room for planting to contribute texture without making the garden feel visually empty.
The office terrace changes the daily rhythm
An outdoor place near a workroom may be used differently from the main evening lounge. It can offer a short break, a view from the desk, or a place to sit between tasks. Its value is not necessarily captured by the number of seats it holds.
For a comparable plan, describe the duration and purpose of those ordinary visits. A ten-minute pause needs a convenient threshold and a comfortable seat more than a distant destination. Put those small uses into the brief alongside the larger social occasions.
Productive planting should be easy to reach
The herb and vegetable areas give the garden a hands-on role. Their usefulness depends on the route for tending and harvesting as much as their appearance from the terrace. A productive patch isolated behind several formal rooms may be less convenient than a modest planting near an everyday path.
At home
Trace the morning arrival, a pause from work, the trip to gather herbs, and dinner outside. Use those journeys to check the plan. A landscape that supports them will have a life beyond the occasions when every entertaining space is full.



