On Washington’s Bainbridge Island, where saltwater and high tides are a daily reality, a pair of clients asked Seattle-based Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape to transform their front garden into a family entertaining space.
Photography via Wittman Estes.
Architect Matt Wittman and landscape architect Jody Estes removed most of the existing overgrown garden, saving only 10-year-old vine maple trees, and designed a serene haven that is both connected to and separate from the outside world.
On the left in the foreground is Fatsia japonica, and Calamagrostis acutiflora “˜Karl Foerster’ in the metal planter behind. The colors in the front garden were chosen to mimick the sandy palette on the opposite side of the house.
A crushed stone walkway, concrete pavers, and Corten steel planter with ‘Karl Foerster’ grass.
In the foreground, yellow Sedum “˜Angelina’ with tall spires of Acanthus mollis.
The design of an egg-shaped steel planter was a collaboration between Wittman Estes and their client. A slatted cedar fence allows for privacy while the gaps are still wide enough to see through.
“The house is located on a very narrow piece of land, in front of which is a thin road that people walk along frequently. On the one hand, our clients didn’t want to be exposed while lounging in their garden, but on the other they still wanted to be able to say ‘Hi’ to their neighbors as they walk past,” says Wittman.
The garden gate is a welded steel frame with wood infill.
“Our clients were intrigued with the idea of coupling architectural elements with landscape elements,” explains Wittman, “so we used materials that are simple and will weather naturally.”
Much of the steel fabrication was a collaboration with the client, including the handle on the front gate. At above or below eye level you can’t see through it, but at eye level you can see the world passing by, or a flame inside the garden.
The steps to the front entry are custom pre-cast concrete pavers wrapped in hot-rolled steel.