Rock Garden at Glen Echo

During the early 1900s, Glen Echo, MD was established as a getaway community for the financial titans of the era. Later, artists moved into the charming cabins and imbued the neighborhood with the bohemian quality it is known for today. A new generation retains the artsy vibe even as the properties have been updated for modern living. 

For this home, the owners wished to impart their garden with the cragginess of nearby Carder Rock Park. Big chunks of mossy granite were placed within the space to evoke sitting on the cliffs. More boulders of varying sizes and shapes were carefully selected to serve as seating around the fire pit. To make the most of the concentric curved lot with the street on one side and an alley on the other, the plan for the new garden provides linear sightlines from the house. A folding glass wall brings the outside into the house and vice versa. Irregular placement of the pavers and lawn joints also blur the transition from patio to lawn to create a sense of contiguous flow rather than an edge.

At the lowest elevation of the garden, a mulch path gives the kids a more adventuresome weave through the planting bed of ferns and native perennials to arrive at the fire pit. In contrast, but with the same destination, orderly rectangles of stone traverse the length of the garden. Several feet below the pavers, the ground is filled with gravel and pipes to provide effective and hidden drainage. A Japanese Maple anchors the corner opposite the fire pit, while a Fuyu Persimmon tree has pride of place in the center of the trail-like bed. Enclosing this very personal garden is a unique fence detailed with horizontal boards of varying widths and a big gate that opens to the alley.

  • Architect: Broadhurst Architects
  • General Contractor: Mcfarland Woods
  • Landscape Contractor: Chick Landscaping
  • Photographer: J. Trevor Sykes
A backyard with a rectangular lawn featuring a geometric stone paver walkway that transitions into a patio. The yard is enclosed by a wood fence with garden beds along the edges and a small fire pit area in the back corner.
A backyard with a lawn featuring a path of rectangular stone pavers leading toward a wooden fence. The yard is lined with garden beds filled with mulch, ferns, and small plants under mature trees.
A garden bed with ferns and tall grasses in the foreground, with a mulched path leading toward three people sitting on the ground in the distance. A wooden fence encloses the background area.
A stone patio with a central fire pit sits in a backyard. The area is surrounded by large boulders and a tall wooden privacy fence backed by trees.
A two-story dark blue house with a balcony and open patio doors faces a grassy backyard. A stone path leads to the house, while a fire pit surrounded by large boulders sits in the foreground.
A two-story blue house with a second-floor balcony and open glass doors leading to a patio. The backyard features a grass lawn with stone pavers and a mulched garden bed in the foreground.
Two white outdoor armchairs sit on a grey stone patio. Behind them is a horizontal wood slat fence, lush green trees, and a house with a dark red exterior.
Stone steps lead from a concrete sidewalk up to the landscaped front yard of a house. The rugged, grey stone stairs are set into a grassy slope beside a foundation garden.

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