selected works
A collection of works exploring the tension between structure and softness, where landscape and architecture settle into something calm, grounded, and beautiful.
Set along the river in one of the city’s historic neighborhoods, this project involved two neighboring shotgun-style homes—both purchased by the same clients. One became their residence, the other their design studio. My role was to dissolve the boundary between the two and create a single, cohesive outdoor environment that felt intentional, organic, and quietly transportive.
The challenge was flow. Rather than treating the backyards as separate zones, I approached the space as a continuous landscape—soft, meandering, and grounded in movement. Inspired by a West Coast sensibility, the garden leans heavily into layers of grasses and perennials, creating a sense of rhythm and ease that shifts with the seasons and the light.
A custom walkway of locally sourced limestone anchors the space, its irregular cuts lending a natural, time-worn quality that respects the historic context while feeling fresh and modern. Nestled within the plantings is an intimate sitting area—meant for pauses, conversations, and quiet moments—surrounded by soft textures and movement.
For the studio, we introduced a small dipping tub tucked discreetly into the landscape, offering employees a place to cool off and reset during the workday. It’s a subtle but intentional detail—one that reflects the clients’ values around creativity, rest, and connection to place.
The result is a backyard that feels less designed and more discovered. A shared outdoor room that blurs the line between home and studio, work and rest—rooted in nature, history, and flow.
butchertown zen
Quarryscape
Overlooking a water-filled quarry in Prospect, Kentucky, this multi-million-dollar landscape was an exercise in restraint, reverence, and scale. The site itself was already dramatic—raw rock, expansive water, and a sense of quiet permanence—so the design approach was never about competing with the view, but rather extending it.
The backyard unfolds in a series of intentional zones, each grounded in natural materials and shaped by the land. A large water feature flows over natural stone, its sound softening the edges of the architecture and echoing the presence of water beyond. The infinity-edge pool is positioned to dissolve into the quarry below, finished with shell limestone pavers that reflect light subtly and stay cool underfoot.
Throughout the landscape, natural stone boulders were carefully placed to feel as though they had always belonged there. Hand-carved stone steps guide movement through the property, slowing the pace and encouraging awareness of the terrain. Custom-designed wrought iron gates add moments of structure and contrast—delicate yet strong, refined yet rooted.
The lower portion of the yard was excavated to reveal existing rock formations, transforming them into intimate seating areas gathered around a fire pit. These spaces feel sheltered and elemental—stone, fire, water, and sky converging in a way that feels both ancient and deeply calming.
Layers of perennials and grasses weave throughout the site, softening the hardscape and reinforcing a natural, almost untouched aesthetic. The result is a landscape that feels carved rather than constructed—an outdoor environment that honors the land, embraces its imperfections, and invites people to exist within it slowly.