The first-growth trees surrounding Moss Ledge—a Berkshire Mountains summer house built in the 1920s—had all been harvested by the end of World War I. Today, second-growth pines, maples, and oaks are thriving, and the newest owners of Moss Ledge want to keep it that way.
Photography by Michael Moran, except where noted, and courtesy of O’Neill Rose Architects.
The architects chose a location for the pool where it would be least disruptive to the trees; the clients were very insistent on that point.
Bluestone pavers surround the pool; the sun lounges are from Kingsley-Bate. Plantings include hostas, rhododendrons, mountain laurel, and a cut-leaf Japanese maple.
A former tractor garage off the side of the house is now a mudroom entrance.
When the pool displaced a small flower garden, the team relocated the plants throughout the property; shown here are day lilies, bellflowers, astilbe, and balloon flowers.
The architects planted a mix of Irish moss and thyme between the bluestone pavers.
The heated saltwater pool “is used as soon as possible in the spring, and until as late as possible in the fall,” said O’Neill. Beyond the pool, the door (at far left) leads to the mudroom/storage area.
Black Mexican river rocks are interspersed between pavers and mossy plantings.
Photograph by O’Neill Rose Architects.
“The formal geometry of the bluestone pavers is softened by the Irish moss and thyme,” said O’Neill, “and interweaves with the garden at its edges…allowing the garden to assert its presence.”
Photograph by O’Neill Rose Architects.
The site plan shows the proximity between pool and woods.