When they originally moved into this home, these homeowners loved the house, but missed the large pool from their last home. As the addition of grandkids to the family began, they wanted a place for fmaiily to gather outdoors. 

The a priorities were to add patio seating and dining, covered lounging and a place to sit fireside. With a narrow yard and steep hill, they initially believed that such a wishlist would be impossible, but Landsmith Landscape Design and Construction and Costello Landscape were ready to take on the challenge.

First, Landsmith helped the clients turn their vision into an actionable plan. “Hillsides can be solved with walls, but narrow yard shapes affect layout, traffic flow and how zones interact with each other,” says Scott Worley of Landsmith. “We have a structured design cycle that improves our ability to iterate; we discussed ideas like placing the pool at a lower level than the patio or swapping the fire pit and pool areas. Getting to see all these options really helped solidify where we landed.”

With Landsmith’s plan in place, Costello Landscape was able to begin their role as contractor and make this vision come to life. During this process, much of the initial layout stayed the same but some of the materials changed to help soften the look of the space. “We used pavers instead of standard concrete for portions of the pool deck, added natural stone steps and flagstone landings and incorporated boulders and decorative rock throughout the landscape,” says Vince Costello of Costello Landscape. 

The result was a serene space that accommodated every request on the homeowner’s wishlist. The homeowners express their immnse appreceiation for Scott’s care in including them in every conversation and step during the process, as well as Costello’s ability to achieve nearly every ideal they had on their list, despite the challenges.

Comfortable swivel chairs surround a circular fire pit on one end of the patio, leading towards a small, L-shaped pool with a set of lounge chairs and a small water feature. On the other side of the patio sits an additional set of four pool loungers and the requested patio seating for dining. “I think my favorite feature is the expression people have when they walk down for the first time,” says Scott. “The dramatic turn when you first get down the stone steps and see the scale of a project that somehow uses every square foot.”

This success wouldn’t have been possible without the collaborative efforts of Landsmith and Costello. “We love working with Costello Landscape, they are incredibly capable and collaborative,” says Scott. “At different stages of the design, we met with them to discuss the installation process and any adjustments we needed to make so they could actually build it.”

Vince shares this sentiment, “Working with Landsmith is an amazing experience for both the customer and the contractor. Scott also serves as an effective project manager and liaison between the customer and contractor, this communication is extremely valuable throughout a project of this size and complexity.”