Settling in Vermont to raise a new family, our clients craved the simple rural community that Vermont had to offer. A three-season family room projects south from the central house. We designed and built a stone wall to retain a terrace surrounding the family room. To the southwest of the family room, we constructed a “grownups” sitting area, complete with an in-ground fire pit, overlooking the vegetable farm. The vegetable farm contains a custom-designed shed to store maintenance tools and equipment as well as a work area for potting. A series of raised beds is fenced-in to deter the numerous varmints in the neighborhood from helping themselves to the crops. The plan incorporates an existing free-standing, three-season greenhouse.
Across from the fire pit patio is the family patio, overlooking a swing set as well as joining up with an enormous sandbox. A re-graded lawn provides a comfortable, flat, shaded lawn area for quiet lawn activities. Surrounding plantings primarily include ferns and native shade-loving groundcovers. We were able to design these outdoor spaces around two mature honey locust trees and a mature crabapple.
To restore privacy from the road, we designed and installed a custom cedar fence. We were able to incorporate the orchard back into the yard by pushing the fence out towards the road.