NATURAL LEGACY

GREENWICH \ CONNECTICUT

Narrow lawn path between flowering borders and a white farmhouse porch.

NATURAL LEGACY

GREENWICH \ CONNECTICUT 

The Stanwich estate, with its six rolling acres, owes much of its beauty to its 19th-Century architecture. Which is why, when it came time to create their dream home, the owners tapped JDDA to come up with an integrated landscape design plan that would both honor history and address the clients’ contemporary lifestyle. From the outset, attention to detail was key, and the team went to great lengths to ensure that every aspect of the landscape plan harmonized with the period references of the original 1846 house. Working with a site-specific strategy, overgrown trees and brush were cleared to reveal a framework of unique structure. For the exterior plant schemes, the team drew inspiration from the surrounding countryside and the clients’ love of seasonal color. Starting directly across from the parking court and grand front entrance, a new meadow feels magical, almost inevitable, and hardly designed at all. Here, a vibrant array of native grasses and flowering perennials—including allium, yarrow, and beardtongue—offer a rotating presentation of color and texture provide and a habitat for local wildlife. The resulting modern-meets-romantic aesthetic works to engage the senses and achieves the brief to provide our clients with a practical, everlasting retreat that honors history.

RECOGNITION

‘Enchanting Gardens’, Veranda \ 2025

McKim, Mead & White Award \ 2022

Veranda Outdoor Living Awards \ 2022

Palladio Award: Exterior Spaces \ 2022

COLLABORATORS

Diane Bilgore, DAB Design

PHOTOGRAPHY

Allegra Anderson

Neil Landino

Clipped hedges and ivy-covered walls frame the entrance garden of a white farmhouse.
Stone path between low hedges and striped garden chairs leads to a white doorway.
Rough stone gateposts frame a lawn and mature garden tree.
Small gravel seating court with a stone fountain beneath a white tower.
Wooden table and chairs on gravel beneath a mature tree beside a stone wall.
Meadow and wetland planting border a lily-covered pond surrounded by trees.
Chickens roam a grassy garden enclosure beside a folding table and chairs.
Brown hen standing in grass beside a timber-framed mesh enclosure.
Water bubbles from a dark stone fountain beside purple flowers.
Square stone fountain beside a gravel dining area and rounded shrubs.
Natural Legacy planting plan showing angular garden beds, paths, and tree locations.
Dark red seed pods and fine stems covered with water droplets.
Fine meadow grasses glow in low sunlight beside a mown path.
Dark purple flower head rises among pale meadow grasses and white flowers.
Single pale flower with a green center against dark foliage.
Mown path through flowering meadow beneath a broad tree in front of the white farmhouse.
Branching potted plant beside a white clapboard wall and low garden planting.
Narrow opening in a clipped hedge reveals a secluded garden chair.
Outdoor dining and lounge terrace overlooks a lawn and pond in golden light.
Long lawn bordered by mixed planting leads toward a mature tree.
White farmhouse and tall tower beyond meadow grasses beneath mature trees.

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