A Homage to Maybeck

Berkeley, California

Merit Award, American Society of Landscape Architects, Northern California Chapter

Jan Longwell, Principal | Siteworks, Landscape Contractor | Cesar Rubio, Photographer

The 1906 house was designed by Bernard Maybeck, notable for his Church of Christian Scientists in downtown Berkeley, and his Beaux-Arts style Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.  Nestled in the La Loma Park neighborhood, the house illustrates his Arts and Crafts style that became the signature design aesthetic for the region.  While incorporating our client's creative inspirations for a series of outdoor sitting rooms, areas for vegetable and fruit tree cultivation, and a Bavarian style diamond patterned fence, it was important for us to design a garden that reflected the architect's aesthetics.  Since little of his original garden was intact, we chose to draw our design inspiration from his eclectic architectural style, his complex layering of architectural lines, his love of nature, his use of redwood, colored stucco walls, and reflective water pools.