Project location: Bay Harbor • Project designed and installed by: Vidosh North
What began as a patio project expanded into a full site remodel. This total transformation included the addition of lush gardens, outdoor living spaces, elegant masonry, and winding paths.
The design concept incorporated the following:
Tiered patio spaces with fire pit and steps to the beach
Outdoor kitchen
Planting pockets to soften hardscaping
Beach access gate
Privacy plantings/screenings as needed from the road and adjacent homesites
Extensive perennial and ground cover plantings
Mature specimen trees and shrubs that would give the site an immediate feel of maturity
Construction Process
The site conditions presented a true challenge. These included veins of limestone bedrock, rocky limestone soil (fill), steep hillside work areas, and poor drainage conditions.
Removing blast rock (left) – this site was once a road leading down into a 90' deep quarry. What was left behind to excavate were veins of bedrock and hundreds of tons of limestone chunks. Benches (level areas within the slope) and pockets for soil had to be built throughout the site.
Pouring walls (right & below) – 18° and winter approaching = all hands on deck!
(left) Walls poured on oversized engineered footers, with finish grade marked (orange paint line). Winter sets in, shutting the project down until spring thaw.
Laying bluestone (Right) – Wet laid on
concrete sub-base. Uniform joint spacing is crucial to the finished detail of the patio.
(Left) – Dry stack walls joining with poured walls.
(Below) –Forming poured walls on specific engineered radiuses.
Building the Firepit Patio (Below) – Special features include a 'bench' built into the stone wall for firewood storage. Loose joints to be filled with thyme to soften the landscape.
Beach Gate (Below) – Custom designed and fabricated aluminum.
Materials
One of the key ingredients to this project is the blending of hardscaping with plantings. The plant choices are deliberate shapes, colors and textures to compliment the tones of the stone. The Hardscape utilizes the natural steep hillside, creating interesting tiers helping to maintain a soft, inviting feel to the property.
Wallstone – (Above left) Combination of poured walls with granite veneer and dry laid granite walls. (Above right) Dry laid granite wallstone with fabric and drainage.
Patio and walkways (below) – Thermal full color bluestone was selected and wet laid in primary traffic areas.
Fire pit patio (Below) – Dry laid full color thermal bluestone with thyme joints to soften and make the fire pit area less formal feeling.
Outdoor kitchen (Below) – The kitchen was nestled into the landscape by pulling plantings in close and repeating hardscape materials. The kitchen is recessed slightly in order to not impede traffic flow. The backsplash uses the same granite veneer and dark bluestone cap as the walls to keep continuity.
Plantings
Large, interesting specimens needed to be moved into place before the area was cut off to equipment traffic.
Planting combinations were designed to create lush layers of texture, foliar interest, and pops of season long color.
From the community beach below, we wanted to be sure the property had a very inviting feel with a combination of colorful plantings and elegant stone work. Dunegrass was added to establish the slope wihin a year. The picture below was taken one week after project completion.
Before and Afters
Before: A bleak, harsh and uninviting After: What was once a barren steep hillside
hillside of loose limestone of broken limestone has become a
preventing beach access. grand entry from the beach.
Before: A bland, basic entry after After: Transforms into a lush, layered garden
removing red brick. with texture and elegant bluestone.
