Landscape architect Quincy Hammond’s gardens owe their graciousness to her grandfather’s genteel Southern flowers, grown in a family nursery in Georgia where she worked during the summers before graduating from college.
Landing a job after school working for Manhattan-based landscape architect Edmund Hollander, she worked with a client for more than a year to re-imagine the landscape of a 6.9-acre Hamptons estate in Water Mill, New York. After the client asked for a garden with “no curves,” Hammond re-interpreted the English cottage vernacular to fill a grand space, installing a sunken rose garden, high hornbeam hedges, a reflecting pool and a Sissinghurst-worthy white border.
The estate, surrounded on three sides by farmland (owned by the same families for more than 300 years) and on the fourth by wetlands and Mecox Bay, is currently for sale for $39 million. To make an offer, see Corcoran.
Photography courtesy of Quincy Hammond Landscape Architect.
Bird’s-Eye View
Tantalizing glimpses of other “rooms” in the the garden are visible through breaks in the hedges. Hammond was the lead designer on the project while working for Edmund Hollander Design.
Curb Appeal
Above: Hedges of hornbeam grow alongside the driveway, hiding the house and garden from view until you arrive at the entry.
Sunken Rose Garden
Above: A sunken rose garden has symmetrical planting beds defined by low boxwood hedges.
Above: Dogwood trees (at R) soften the geometry of the sunken rose garden.
Above: Ivy cloaks stone walls to create a serene backdrop to gravel paths.
Above: A stairway connects the rose garden to a perennials border.
White Garden
Above: A white garden, with perennial beds of lilies, catmint, irises, and phlox, sprawls with less formality.
Above: “Hedges define each space, allowing every garden room to possess a distinct character,” notes Hammond.
Above: The hedge effect. A green backdrop throws all the other colors and textures into high relief.
Above: “Borrowed views” make the garden feel larger than it is, says Hammond.
Edible Garden
Above: The beds in the vegetable garden echo the same design as the rose garden.
Swimming Pool
Above: A swimming pool on the other side of the hornbeam hedges is lined with rows of pruned sycamore trees.
Above: Farmland in the distance is a reminder of eastern Long Island’s agricultural history.
Spa
Above: Surrounded on three sides by high hedges, a spa is completely private and accessible only from the house.
Site Plan
Above: A plan of the garden as seen from above shows the relationship of the swimming pool (bottom L) to the house (C) and the rose garden (top L).
For more grandeur in the Hamptons, see 5 Favorites: Tennis Courts So Beautiful You Won’t Care About the Score.
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