Fiddler’s Green — Dan Gordon Landscape Architects

When new owners moved into an 1870s Shingle-Style home in Weston, Massachusetts, they asked Dan Gordon Landscape Architects to create garden spaces that were worthy of the stature of the residence and in sync with its architecture.

Over the years, the previous owners, who didn’t spend much time there, had made changes to the main house and carriage house but had allowed the gardens to grow as wild as they wished.

“Everything on the two-acre property was overgrown,” says Patrick Taylor, a principal at Dan Gordon Landscape Architects. “The clients have a real appreciation for the landscape and asked us to create spaces they could walk around in and explore.”

Specifically, they wanted paths that connected their land to neighborhood trails, areas where they could stroll with their dog and a place to sit by the fire and contemplate the scenery.

“Our design intent was to raise the level of finish in the landscape and hardscapes to equal the meticulous architecture of the house and to embrace its historical and cultural references,” Taylor says.

The design team didn’t start with a blank slate: The new plan incorporated several existing trees and shrubs, including a maple, Japanese maples and beech trees that had age and character.

“We did a lot of editing and relocating and replanting,” Taylor says, adding that “a regal red maple that we preserved serves as a centerpiece of the expansive front lawn, grounding it and lending a sense of maturity to the landscape.”

Taylor and his team corrected an awkward arrival sequence from the street, which, he says, “fell short of announcing the house in a manner befitting its handsome façade.”

A fieldstone wall now elevates the transition from a road shared by neighbors to a private entry at the parking court. Deer Isle granite cobble setts with accent banding, sourced locally, tie the landscape into the context of the historical house.

“Visitors are guided to a well marked entry punctuated by bold piers,” Taylor says. “A stand of sugar maples defines the edge between the cobblestone-curbed drive and rolling expanse of lawn and orients attention to the grand view of the residence across the parking court.”

The parking court’s centerpiece diamond motif is repeated throughout the property in the bluestone steppers that lead through a perennial walk featuring astilbe, catmint, hosta and boxwood, culminating in a terrace and a bowfront terrace wall softened by hydrangeas.

“While the paving patterns at the arrival court and perennial border design draw from classic precedent, the bronze twig fire feature and terrace water feature reflect forward-thinking innovations and the use of new materials in a classic medium,” Taylor says.

The design team created a series of outdoor rooms in the Classical tradition that provide a variety of experiences that range from intimate moments to grand gestures, and, Taylor says, “extend the living areas within the home in a manner that is graceful and supportive of the owners’ lifestyle.”

These carefully organized spaces culminate in a terrace, a gathering area with a 13-foot-high stone fireplace and an integrated pergola, both of which echo nearby architectural details.

A water feature, illuminated at night, spills in two directions so that it can be appreciated from inside the house and from the formal garden to the south. 

Off the terrace, a shade garden, reached via a path with the recurring diamond motif, features a sinuous sculpture whose stately stalks reference the plantings around it.

The plantings around the house and its supporting spaces add formality, while the perimeter of the property has a more relaxed, park-like feel with the lawn bordered by refreshed woodland, evergreen shrubs and flowering trees.

“The level of craftmanship and masonry stand out in this project,” Taylor says. “It’s the details that add to the experience of the property.” TB