An address in Boston’s historic Beacon Hill is among the world’s most coveted. This private 775-square-foot courtyard enclosed by antique brick walls belongs to a gorgeously restored mansion, steps from the Massachusetts State House. The family who lives here—accomplished aesthetes and patrons of the arts with a specific appreciation for minimalism—thrive on the juxtaposition of old and new.

The homeowners sought an unexpected and bold space to prove history is still being made behind an old garden wall. The durable garden supports casual dining to black-tie events with dignitaries. The multi-seasonal planting palette is simple to that aim. A structured steel fountain spills water and throttles urban chatter with white noise. As night falls, the gently illuminated fluid flickers mesmerizingly—a 21st-century gaslight. Its blackened steel patina forms the court’s vernacular. Linear bands of granite create unique patterns on the ground, where distinct voids filled with vibrant mosses soften the hardscape. The courtyard achieves the near-impossible feat among contemporary spaces of balancing hard and soft, new and old, living and inanimate, all fostering new histories.

2016 International Gold Award from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers

Collaborators: Charles R. Myer & Partners, Manuel De Santaren Interiors, Cafco Construction, LeBrasseur Engineering, R.P. Marzilli Landscape Construction, PBD Metalworks, Pond Creations By Sean, Select Horticulture, Cavicchio Greenhouses