Backyard design plucked from the past

Brian Schatz, of Schatz Landscape Design, worked with the homeowner to create a complete property design for her new home.

In addition to handling practical issues such as site design, low maintenance plantings, dealing with invasive species and the like, she had a very specific request. “She showed me a picture she had pulled out of a magazine and asked me if I could do something like it,” Schatz says.

The Ruin features blue-stone flagstone floors and quartzite stone walls on two sides with a large stone fireplace as the focal point. Stone columns, slightly irregular so as to appear tumbled with age, help define the open walls. Instead of a roof, thick cedar rafters open to the sky delineating the space. Eventually, lush wisteria vines will scramble over the top adding a sense of permanence to the site.

Unique furnishings and accessories, mostly chosen by the homeowner, show exquisite attention to detail including a stone sink with copper piping and an old style faucet highlighting one corner.

Antique Spanish doors painted a faded blue that the owner had found while traveling create a beautiful entry point with a whiff of the exotic. An antique, hand carved, wooden window lattice further adds a sense of history.

Running along one side of the property, a meandering dry creek visually separates the ruin from the rest of the property with accessibility via a small Ipe wood bridge on one side and large stepping stones set “midstream” at one end. While the creek bed is only a true watercourse during heavy rainstorms, it serves two functions: physically, it channels water away from the home and back to the lake and visually, it creates a lovely, meandering streambed that draws the eye down to the Ruin and the lake beyond. Rain chains, an attractive alternative to gutters, hang from the corners of the home to funnel water off the roof and down to the creek bed.

The homeowner says she wanted to create a more natural setting on her property, which is Schatz’s specialty and passion. Within this property, low maintenance planting and meandering paths encourage guests to wander, never knowing when a fun sculpture or interesting accent piece will grab their attention.

This property is a marvelous combination of practical, low maintenance planting with innovative design, fun artistic elements and a dramatic, eye-catching feature.

The result, as the homeowner says, “is delightful.”