Nestled at the base of the Shenandoah foothills in Virginia, the 178-acre site was used for agriculture until the current owners purchased it for the creation of a country retreat. The irregularly shaped property included wooded tracts entangled with invasive species and agricultural fields delineated with dry-stacked stone walls in various states of disrepair.
The landscape architect used stewardship principles and sustainable design techniques to enhance the land and to anchor a new, contemporary home in the Virginia Piedmont landscape. The result is a place of restoration that offers connection with elements of nature: fields, forest, water, and views of the endless sky.
Photos by Allen Russ
Landscape Master Plan
Residential Site Plan
Design Sketches - Stone Wall, Gate, Firepit
Constructed from stone boulders found on-site, the entry gate establishes the aesthetic of the property and reveals the essence of the site.
Lined with mesic plants, the rill is constructed from site-collected fieldstone and discharges into a bioswale.
Ecological Information
Protection of all existing trees along ½ mile of driveway through forested area
85 trees planted at the home site, 42 canopy trees and 43 understory (About ½ acre new canopy coverage at the home site).
400 new trees planted on site, mostly enhancing forest edge ecotone (190 @ 2” cal or greater and 210 whips).
5000 sf new ornamental/residential garden beds, primarily (almost exclusively) native species
3 acres new native species meadows & 1 new pond utilizing natural groundwater flow
Stormwater runoff from house managed through designed landscape features/embraced as part of garden design and discharged into meadow swale
[tree]
Quercus phellos
Willow Oak
[tree]
Amelanchie x grandiflora
Serviceberry
[Perennial]
Agastache 'Blue Fortune'
Giant Hyssop
[Perennial]
Panicum virgatum 'Haense Herms' Switch Grass
[Perennial]
Rudbeckia 'Herbstsonne'
Black-eyed Susan
[Perennial]
Sedum spp.
Sedum
Living, Being
Architect: Cunningham Quill
Landscape contractors: Quarry Aquatics, Ruppert Nurseries
2011 Merit Award, American Society of Landscape Architects, Maryland Chapter
2011 Merit Award, American Society of Landscape Architects, Virginia Chapter
2007 - 2010
Bluemont, Virginia
609 H Street NE
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 543-1286
info@moodyarchitecture.com
1318 H Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 543-1286
info@moodyarchitecture.com
Moody Graham Landscape Architecture
Copyright 2022. All rights reserved.
Moody Graham Landscape Architecture
Copyright 2020. All rights reserved.