2007 HC&G IDEA HOUSE TOUR

"Basically, we wanted to refit the house back into the woods, so we did a tree garden," says Charlie Marder about the landscaping. "It sounds a little strange to bring trees into a forest, but that's what we did." One reason for this is that the land on the former Warner LeRoy estate is a water recharge area, for which zoning regulations prohibit the removal of more than 20 percent of trees. But mostly it was to frame the house within its environment, accentuating certain features as well as masking others, the same way an interior designer does inside. "The garden is like a big lens that brings everything into focus," Marder says.

In the front, for example, Marder had to determine how to deal with two entrances, the main doorway and the mudroom service entrance. "The question is: How do you separate them without using a maze of walkways?" he says. "We wanted the main arrival entrance to be the first thing you notice, but we had to acknowledge the mudroom entrance. So, we added a veneer bluestone walkway." A contrast to the more formal bluestone path at the front door, the secondary walkway has a subtle texture all its own but doesn't distract from the main entrance.

In the backyard, Marder distanced the pool area from the house by building a small stone retaining wall and mixing a variety of vegetation chosen both for its utility and its aesthetic qualities. "It was sort of a study in barks," Marder explains. "The pool is all about skin, so I thought, why not use the skin of the trees as a colorful part of the pool garden?"

Back in front, the gravel driveway worked as both an entranceway for cars and a place to throw parties under a tent. In addition, Marder added rows of pachysandra between cobblestone strips leading into the garage. "You're basically driving over the garden to get into the garage," he says. "The garden becomes a very sensual experience."