A Minimalist Approach

In 2008, MCLD was involved in the creation of a minimalist landscape in Rockport, Maine for a home designed by architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen. An article by Joseph Giovannini in the October 2010 issue of Architectural Digest tells the wonderful story of how the clients established a connection with Mr. Jacobsen over a number of decades before commissioning his firm to create their dream house.

Designing the landscape for a home imagined by such an iconic architect provided exciting challenges. The dramatically sloping ocean-front site called for creative circulation strategies that worked with both the topography and the strong geometries formed between the house, bunk house, and garage. A salt-tolerant plant palette had to stabilize disturbed areas of the property, and the new garden had to respect the long-established sentimental connections to the landscape that the clients had formed after raising their family on the property.

Photos by architectural photographer Richard Mandelkorn capture the simple yet elegant lines of the building and illustrate brilliant interior and exterior views of Rockport Harbor. The landscape, which is being installed in phases, includes lush perennial and cut-flower gardens, a sloped lupine meadow, low and high-bush blueberry colonies, a path to the sandy beach, and a small bluestone sitting terrace.

Look for images of the garden to appear in the MCLD portfolio as the garden matures!