Houzz Feature: Sonoma Green Design

Written By: Becky Harris, Houzz Contributor

Yard of the Week: Exuberant Gardens and Wine Country Living

Designers add edible gardens, a pool, an outdoor kitchen and living roofs to a property with views of the Sonoma hills

Once a raw, open field, the property surrounding this new home in Northern California wine country is now an exuberant landscape full of edible gardens, with views to vineyards and the hills of Sonoma. Landscape architects Danielle Davila and Brett McPherson artfully approached the blank canvas with the goal of connecting the architecture of the house to the immediate landscape and its agricultural surroundings.

“This homeowner was really fun. She liked an eclectic approach to design and wanted lots of edible gardens,” Davila says. The designers found creative ways to incorporate a wide range of edible plants, such as with a linear fruit orchard along the driveway, mounds of herbs in the front yard, and, in the back, colorful orange metal hoops that support kiwi and raspberry vines, along with Cor-Ten steel trellises supporting hops. Closer to the house, the landscape is refined, containing a patio, pool and kitchen plus dining and lounging spaces. Moving away from the house, the landscape becomes more rustic and connected to the expansive views beyond the property.

This drone shot provides an overall view of the property. The edge of the backyard is at the bottom of the photo. On the left side of the backyard are rows of Cor-Ten steel trellises that support hops, and on the right are orange metal hoops that train raspberry and kiwi vines. More edible gardens fill in the spaces around these zones.

Toward the top of the photo is the guesthouse, separated by a motor court. The lot is flag-shaped, and the driveway serves as the flagpole portion, extending past this photo’s frame to the right. It is long and lined with a variety of fruit trees. The architect determined the locations of the house and guesthouse, and Davila and McPherson joined the project early on in the design process.

They considered water conservation throughout the property, and the house has a living roof, which the architect coordinated with Rana Creek Living Architecture. “The same company created the green roof at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. You choose the mix of plants you want, and they arrive in flats,” McPherson says. An irrigation-and-fertilization system ensures that the roof plants thrive.

Written by Becky Harris Houzz Contributor

The Land Collaborative
Location: Sonoma, California
Size: 1.3 acres (0.5 hectares)
Landscape architects: Brett McPherson and Danielle Davila of The Land Collaborative
Architect: John Swain
General contractor: Floyd Construction
Photos by Barry Schwartz: more photos