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Midcentury Modern Landscape Design and Installation

Ross NW Watergardens

10 years ago

Our client owns an original condition Rummer designed home in the Garden Home area of Portland, OR. We designed a landscape that complements the fantastic lines of this home. We took cues from modern Japanese landscaping and added a NW twist. Tell me what you think!

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User

10 years ago

Perfect shapes, not too fussy.

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Comments (26)

User
10 years ago
Very nice. What are the two trees planted by the foundation?
PRO
Ross NW Watergardens
Original Author
10 years ago
The one on the left is actually a specimen shrub- pieris japonicus. The tree to the right is a Hinoki Cyprus. Those two beds also have Japanese Blood Grass, they will be very dynamic in the summer.
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Thanks so much gooster and anitamo! I lucked out and got this as a short sale a couple yrs ago. I wanted an MCM home, but only in certain neighborhoods. My budget didnt buy much in those neighborhoods. When I saw this house, it was in such poor condition that the realtor and I left laughing that anyone would think it was worth the asking price. But I couldnt get it out of my mind, thinking of the potential and who the original architect had been. I ended up getting the house (for a lower price), even though the realtor tried to talk me out of it. I am hoping I can afford the new architect, as he worked with the original architect, something I think will help preserve the value of the home with the addition. Here's some pics to show some of the things, especially textures, the original architect did: Inerior block walls (office): Wood siding: Flower planters with patio roof gaps, allowing for a very tall palm tree. Everything is in 8 foot increments, and I had a heck of a time finding someone to make 8 foot long window panels and sliders. When I am ready, the addition will go at the head of the pool, at the end of the house. It will not be visible from the road, so as not to mess up the lines and architecure of the house. More wood and red rock: Exterior block wall: Glass fence (I added): Bathroom counter extends into shower:
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Comments (12)
If someone is doing landscape design for you, you should be familiar enough with their work to know that you like and respect it. That will give you confidence that they can do something similar for you. If you are unfamiliar with their work, then it's a crap shoot. There are plenty of pros delivering mediocre work. If you're not sure if they're a landscape designer, you had best do some research. Someone who is primarily an installer may do a so-so design. Landscape is about setting, which is what's missing from your pictures. We can only see what's in front of the house. If you returned to the place where the above picture was taken and aimed the camera left, then right, showing the homes at each side, you could capture the rest of the view. Your large entrance area and the roof over the porch has architectural integrity and looks complete. I don't think any columns are necessary or desirable as they will tighten the opening. I like the idea of large, full porch and steps. I would do a derivation of an "S" curve and keep the walk away from the house so as to have proper room for plantings. The way to cheapen look of plantings is to have tightly pinched beds that are unrealistic for plant size.
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Comments (40)
New fridge came. Much drama getting water connected. Got to actually practice a lot of Spanish, though, which is cool. The previous fridge didn't have a working ice maker, and LOTS of plumbing work had been done in the house during this time. I knew better but didn't insist on flushing the line before connecting. Once the water wouldn't flow, I eventually convinced installer to flush first the line from the wall and then the length of tubing. By then it was too late! Fridge was stopped up internally. Installer was flummoxed. I cranked up the PSI from the well and kept washing the filter. Third wash worked. Kicking butt and taking names! The previous fridge had leaked for a year. Only a small ridge of Pergo was damaged at all. You have to get down on the floor to notice it n I didn't bother to clean it up after the first month, either. Whatever the original owners first installed is, sadly, long gone. New fridge is SO much easier to see things in. I hope we will have addressed most of my husband's habit of opening two gallons of milk at the same time and shoving food in the back and abandoning it. I can put four gallons on the door--key for me. (Used to be zero.) Even with that, I can fit almost all of the door stuff in the rest of the door containers. This is a bad time of the week to show how much it holds because I've cooked all the produce--and we have eaten down the fridge a lot. Still, I can stack the Rubbermaid Premeir 9 cup containers 2 deep on the edges--also important. Without a custom depth future fridge cabinet, I would hate this fridge. It is a MONSTER. But because I can do custom depth, I love it. No other place for cleaning supplies. Open.... Drama!
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Comments (23)
I believe it now. The original pictures were not detailed enough to explain the pavement. You will not get the look of new pavers without actually replacing the drive with new pavers. IMO, your best, cheapest possibility is with driveway paint. Since it would not cost anything near what a new driveway would cost, and would look much better than what you have now, I'd consider it a viable alternative. But you must only use paint for concrete/driveways, not floor/porch paint. I would pick a color darker than you think you need. It will lighten over time with aging by the sun, but more importantly, if too light it will cause much glare ... to the point where you can't look at it.
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PRO
Ross NW Watergardens
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks- I think clean lines is key when the home's lines are so strong.
PRO
purehome
10 years ago
Beautiful, very Zen!
Ross NW Watergardens thanked purehome
PRO
sstarr93
10 years ago
Love this! So beautiful and simple.
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Ross NW Watergardens thanked sstarr93
PRO
Ross NW Watergardens
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you all!
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PRO
Ginkgo Leaf Studio
9 years ago
Great job! I especially love the bed in the lawn.
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PRO
Kemora Landscapes
9 years ago
Love the strong, clean lines. It definitely fits with the vibe of the house. Great work!
Betsy Hartman
9 years ago
Nice!
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n247080
9 years ago
I'm not sure why you think this home has fantastic lines. To me, it looks like a giant boring garage. However, 2 thumbs up on the landscaping. You took an eyesore and made it pretty!
tooky58
9 years ago
Love it!
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Sal Garza
9 years ago
Nice. Do you know what specific color paints were used on the house?
ewilcox39
9 years ago
Landscape is nice but they should have found/created a better place for the recycling and please, loose the flag. That shouldn't be their idea of "pop of color".
Garage doors need some subtle two tone patter or ? Too much grey factory door going on. Maybe paint a shade lighter or darker.
Push a bit more
gibbedittome
9 years ago
It does look like a warehouse and I would have been a little more creative with the color rather than the flat toneless gray. Something that compliments the background of autumn colors would be perfect. A beautiful brown maybe? There are so many choices . And the garage doors need a "kiss" of alternative creative expression to carry the look and create some visual depth to the house. And looking at the landscape; makes my skin feel dry.
Kris Mccleery
9 years ago

Before and after of what we did in Palm Desert CA .
sefac
9 years ago
I agree with gibbedittome. What reinforces the "warehouse" look is all the asphalt paving. Besides creating one heck of a heatsink, there is no color contrast between foreground and background. Personally geometric permeable pavers would pick up on the path in front of the home along with reducing the amount of water runoff.
Ron de la Pena
9 years ago
@ Ross NW Watergardens:
I think you might be going about this the wrong way. You need to show photographs of the garden in the summer when the trees have their leaves and the grasses are lush with color. It is absolutely impossible to judge the outcome with the wintertime photographs you've provided. This is why the negative feedback is focused on the house. All the photos really show is a grey-walled house with hardscape.
cjohns28
9 years ago
Know the house well as I have been driving past it for 20 years or so. It's a huge improvement from then to now. folks commenting on the house when the point is the landscaping......but I will add two cents worth too :).

Bling the garage doors up with a modern aluminum and frosted window type....hit the house with a nice trim paint and the eye can hunt all over the place from house to landscaping too. I would do some night time up lighting as well and I think you go from good to killer cool without too much more money invested.

This area has tons of interesting rummers and yet most still don't really yet shine.
CL Richmond
9 years ago
I think it looks great; huge improvement! Too bad the pics are too small to really see all the good stuff that *IS* going on with the house (dark charcoal gray eaves, red door, pop of turquoise to the right of the new tree planted next to the house foundation). I'd love to see an update for spring, summer, and fall color with the plants.

And totally agree that steel/glass paneled garage doors would really make this house pop even more. Not to mention set off the landscaping even more beautifully with a mix of glass, metal AND wood.

Love the mid century rambler/ranch houses -- always look perfect to me. Thank you for sharing this. It's given me some ideas for my own PacNW ranch house (Vashon, WA).
janstrand2
9 years ago
studiod. This is Portland. The grass stays a lush green all winter long with the mild climate and the rain. This grass must be dead. It appears as though the house color remained untouched. The house definitely needs some more defining of the architectural features with a different color of paint, even a subtle difference. No matter what design or who designed any house, garage(s) are rarely if ever attractive.
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cjohns28
9 years ago
it's decomposed granite if I had to guess from the pictures, not grass....................
chrissiekirk
9 years ago
Someone do me a favor: Go back to the re-landscaped house and take a photo from the same spot #1 was done in...then I could really see the difference that has been made! (Would like to see inside the house too but that isn't what this article is about, is it!)
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PRO
Ross NW Watergardens
Original Author
9 years ago
Here is a more recent photo, but still over a year old, and some of the key grass mass plantings are dormant... Thanks for all the feedback folks!
sharonanneblack
9 years ago
Great midcentury residential design: hunkered down amidst the landscape, but with a noticeable edge. Landscaping (both hard and soft) is beautiful. From street view, grey exterior of home is too closely united to that of asphalt road. I would seriously consider painting exterior a chartreuse shade, i.e., leaning toward more of a hint of yellow-green, but nothing neon in appearance; this choice would tie in beautifully with the foliage (in season, of course) of deciduous trees located behind the house and revealed above the roof line. The exposed roof beams, framing, etc., might well look very attractive with a creamy white colour. The red front door is boffo! The exterior niche, or indentation around the front door could also be painted in the creamy white roof line colour to brighten, and therefore, further highlight the entryway. The thin, full length blue glass window featured on the front facade would look like an even more interesting architectural feature, as it would really "pop" against the complementary chartreuse coloured walls. Overall, this paint scheme would marry the house more fully with its natural and manmade surroundings, providing a good balance between standing out more, yet overall heightening its "good bones" Zen appeal. Hope this gives you some positive food for thought. Cheers!
PRO
Design Intervention
8 years ago
Here is a mid century modern remodel and re landscape project we just finished in Manhattan Beach California. Keeping it clean and letting the house be the star was the objective. I'll post before and afters so you can see the transformation.
Before exterior · More Info

Before exterior · More Info

Manhattan Beach Home exterior remodel · More Info

Front Exterior · More Info

Night time exterior front · More Info

After remodel of exterior photos · More Info

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