Landscape Architect: Mark TessierPhotography by Art Gray
To create more outdoor living space for their family of five in LA’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood, landscape architect Mark Tessier’s clients bought the house next door and tore it down to create an expansive garden. See how Tessier did it:
Simple elements connect the front garden to the driveway and garage.
Ornamental grasses alongside the path are Dwarf Maiden Grass (Miscanthus sinensis) and a low-growing sedge, Carex tumulocola.
Adding height to the entry landscape is an allée of drought-resistant Brisbane box trees (Tristania conferta).
Visible through the gate is a swimming pool, spa, and lawn sited on the vacant parcel formerly occupied by a neighbor’s house.
Inside the gate, visitors turn right toward an irregularly shaped walkway to reach the house.
Although the two trough fountains are at different elevations, “they visually read the same,” says Tessier.
A closer look at the lower fountain, made of board-formed concrete with no finish on the interior.
If after entering through the front gate you turn left, you see a climbing wall.
A lawn of turf grass where the children play borders the swimming pool and spa.
Bordering the house is a patio paved with bluestone.
An outdoor dining room is beneath a pergola festooned with hanging lanterns and string lights.