Saturday, June 18, 10:30am to 12:30pm | Bronxville, NY
Village Retreats
Renée Byers of Renée Byers Landscape Architect, P.C.
Renée Byers, whose work is featured in Private Paradise: Contemporary American Gardens, by Charlotte M. Frieze, specializes in residential and estate landscape architecture in the Northeast. This Dialogue features two gardens in the historic Masterton Wood and Elm Rock neighborhoods of Bronxville, NY, that reflect the noble provenance of the surrounding architecture, but are contemporized to reflect each clients’ style and preferences.
To create the first garden in Masterton Wood for a handsome 1920’s Tudor, an unattended hillside was carved out to allow for wrap-around garden rooms for dining and entertaining. The site topography was carefully manipulated to transition to the steep hillside of rock outcrops that define the village, and to create an inviting front entry sequence to the home. A long, gently curving stone retaining wall edges two sides of the main terrace. Nestled within it is an inviting seating area centered on a custom-made firepit; the wall terminates in an outdoor grill area just off the kitchen. Furniture and lighting were customized to suit the spaces, where antique and contemporary garden elements mingle with lush plantings and warm stonework.
A short walk away, attendees will visit an outstanding Jacobean Revival home designed by architect Lewis Bowman in 1928. Bowman’s remarkable fluency in English architectural styles is evident in every detail of this beautiful stone home. The siting of the house however, perpendicular to the road rather than facing it, on an irregular and steep lot, presented many landscape challenges. The driveway, service court, and a series of stone terraces and gardens were reconfigured to complement each façade. Gracious but simple plantings soften the geometry of each space and create privacy. Garden antiques collected by a previous owner have been incorporated into the updated landscape, which includes a two-tiered, classic yet contemporary, fountain on the main terrace.
2.0 LA CES™ professional development hours will be available to attendees.
