Taking the Long View

A twenty-acre park in Great Falls exemplifies the owners’ vision for their lives now and for the future. The contiguous property represents stability to them and the intention is to add to the acreage over time. The first phase of this forward-thinking project incorporates a new drive lined with mature pear trees, horse paddocks, an organic garden and greenhouse, a river birch grove, lawns, gardens, and meadows. Additional phases will include understory plantings along new woodland trails that lead to adjacent family residences. Emblematic of the larger time scale is the house, which is designed mostly on one level for ease of aging in place. The exterior stonework throughout further symbolizes permanence, investment, and longevity. Plantings in the front of the house — juniper, catmint, and Pennisetum — are simple and robust enough to withstand exposure and deer presence. At the front entrance, hydrangeas thrive, and oversized stone piers and dish planters reinforce the scale of the architecture. At the rear, stone walls extend from the house creating terraced planting beds and a sunken garden where more sensitive perennials such as Amsonia hubrichtii, Hydrangea petiolaris, and Athyrium Niponicum Pictum can flourish. 

The focal point of the rear garden courtyard is a custom-built stainless steel armillary designed by British sculptor David Farber. Visible through the house upon entry, the armillary is set on axis with the front door and is calibrated to the exact longitude and latitude, marking accurate time with shadows cast across its interlocking spheres. Engraved with significant dates and the names of family members, the armillary records time past, present, and into the future. The custom greenhouse by Alitex is another point of pride for the client, who is determined for his family to nurture and eat from the organic garden. A replica of an 1880s Victorian-era style glass house, it delights as a folly in the landscape and is fully functioning with louvered heat controls, cold frames, and inferred lamps. Every element in this landscape — the traditional horse fencing, the plantings, stonework, greenhouse, and armillary — is indicative of the larger intention, which is to leave behind a legacy and continuum of this place. 

  • Architect: McDonald Architects
  • Interior Designer: Martha Vicas Interiors
  • General Contractor: Artisan Builders
  • Landscape Contractor: Wheat’s Landscaping
  • Photographer: Stacy Zarin Goldberg
A single-story home with white stucco walls, stone accents, and arched entryways. A paved walkway leads through a manicured lawn toward stone steps at the front entrance, surrounded by professional landscaping and lush green trees.
A grand, one-story house with a beige stucco and stone exterior features a central arched entryway with a wooden door. A wide stone walkway leads up a short flight of stairs to the entrance, flanked by two stone planters.
Stone steps lead up to a tiered landscape featuring a bed of tall, golden ornamental grass. A low stone retaining wall borders the steps, with small green plants and a light fixture growing at its base.
Terraced garden beds made of stacked stone blocks featuring ornamental grasses and low shrubs. A stone wall borders the left side, and steps with a metal railing lead to an upper level.
A rustic barn sits in a grassy field beyond a dark fence and a line of trees. In the foreground, tall ornamental grasses grow from a stone planter next to a brick building corner.
A stone patio with tiered garden beds featuring tall ornamental grasses and rounded shrubs. Beyond the garden, a grassy lawn slopes toward a line of mature trees and a fenced pasture.
A white-framed glass greenhouse sits in a garden with raised vegetable beds in the foreground. The structure features a gabled roof and stone base, surrounded by gravel paths and a wooden fence under a blue sky.
A greenhouse interior with a white frame and open door looking out onto a gravel path and trees. A single pendant light hangs from the gabled roof, and cast shadows create a geometric pattern on the gravel floor.
A stone patio with wide steps overlooks a vast, sunlit grassy backyard surrounded by mature trees. A row of neatly trimmed round shrubs and smaller ground cover plants borders the edge of the patio.
Two dark lounge chairs sit on a gravel patio beside a modern armillary sphere sculpture. The scene includes neatly trimmed globe-shaped bushes and decorative planters set against a backdrop of dense woods.
A large, modern estate home at dusk with warm interior lights glowing through expansive windows and glass doors. A manicured lawn and stone patio with lounge chairs are in the foreground, set against a vibrant purple and blue sunset sky.

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