Piedmont Retreat

Asolare, a Greek word for the leisurely passage of time without purpose, is an apt name for a country retreat.

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

A carefully considered palette of materials and color create a symbiosis with the natural surrounding.

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

Plant Palette

[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

Type

Living, Being

Collaborators

Architect: Cunningham Quill

Landscape contractors: Quarry Aquatics, Ruppert Nurseries

Awards

2011 Merit Award, American Society of Landscape Architects, Maryland Chapter

2011 Merit Award, American Society of Landscape Architects, Virginia Chapter                         

Time Span

2007 - 2010

Location

Bluemont, Virginia

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