PaMela Burton lanDsc aPes Foreword by Robert A. M. Stern Princeton Architectural Press New York
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Contents
7 Foreword
III. Recent Work
9 Introduction
124 La Mesa Residence 134 Santa Monica Business Center
I. Influences & Strategies
142 Malibu Beach House
22 Bonhill Residence
152 East Fork Residence
36 Colton Avenue Streetscape,
160 Happy Canyon Ranch
University of Redlands
170 S達o Paulo Esplanade
42 Cantitoe Farm 52 Ashley Ridge Residence
183 Acknowledgments
62 Calabasas Civic Center
184 Project Credits 186 Chronology
II. Water & Fire
189 Selected Bibliography
70 Palm Canyon Residence
190 Studio Profile
78 School of the Arts Plaza,
192 Staff List
University of California, Irvine
86 Scenario Lane Residence 94 Santa Monica Public Library 102 Red Tail Ranch 112 Sante Fe Industrial Complex
192 Image Credits
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Bonhill Residence Brentwood, California
My longest ongoing project is for a client whose house is perched on a hill overlooking the Westside of Los Angeles and has a thirty-foot grade change from the house to the bottom of the property. The goal was to turn the hilly terrain into a fourlevel garden linked by a stone stairway. At the top, there is a level area for the house. The next level is for an office, another for the pool, while the bottom of the property is for two related gardens. The garden began with inspiration from writer Vita Sackville-West’s celebrated Sissinghurst Castle Garden. From Sackville-West’s tower, one can see two parallel hedges in the garden. The big idea was to link the house and the garden below by creating a stair paved with large chunks of stone. In the process, we cut the sloped hillside into two parts and created outdoor rooms that are bifurcated by two parallel hedges on either side of the path. The hedges keep the view contained; one cannot see out until reaching the landings. At the third level there’s an empty room and a full room. The full room was designed to be a citrus grove, but the soil wasn’t suitable. It evolved into a sculpture garden with a wonderful garden folly designed by architect Michael Palladino. We planted Wisteria var. and grapes on the folly, and it has grown to become a shaded resting place.
right: Hybrid Bermuda ‘tifgreen’ lawn forms the badminton court, contrasting with the surrounding Marathon sod. opposite: The stone path leading away from the herb garden to the Richard Long piece
A piece by artist Richard Long, called Hollywood Circle, fills a large circle with head-size boulders from the Four Corners area. The empty room became a badminton lawn set next to an early cor-ten steel piece by Richard Serra; it is a beautiful space that is used, not just observed. I knew that over time there would be incremental additions, so the main diagram for the garden was designed to be strong and flexible enough to accommodate changes. We are constantly viewing and reviewing, putting in and taking out, while undergoing a wonderful process of discovery.
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top: Melaleuca amaryllis frames the front door. bottom: From the teak deck, a view of the terraces below
25 Site plan of Bonhill Residence 1 Parking court 2 Deck overlook 3 Office garden 4 Swimming pool 5 Badminton court 6 Axial stair and walk 7 Robert Therrien sculpture 8 Jenny Holzer bench 1
9 Circumambulatory path 10 Richard Serra sculpture 11 Row of pleached sycamores 12 Urn fountain 13 Richard Long sculpture 14 Rill 15 Fruit tree and herb garden
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right: Circumambulatory walking path crossing the axial stair opposite: At the first landing, which opens to the pool house and gym, the slope is planted with paperbark and sweetgum trees (Melaleuca leucadendron and Liquidambar styraciflua).
32 Overlook from the pool terrace and view of the full room