A Montecito Garden Is Transformed Into a Thriving Oasis After Eight Years of Drought

"I OFTEN REFER to this property as king of the mountain,” says Steve Gierke of Hoerr Schaudt, who led the redesign of a three-acre garden, a 2020 World's Most Beautiful Gardens winner, overlooking the Pacific and butting up against the Santa Ynez mountains. “It’s the last residence before the wilderness, so it feels immersed in the wooded landscape, yet it has these wide-open views of the ocean and Montecito.”

The garden revision, prompted by new owners with children, came at the height of an eight-year drought. “The property had great bones, but much of the original design hinged on plants that wanted more water and had failed, so we needed a more realistic plan,” says Gierke, who also sought to create continuity with the architecture and interior design (by Bob Easton and Christina Rottman, respectively), both in spirit and in materials.

In came agave, sculpted boxwood, olive trees, and an organic blending of gravel, concrete, and sandstone. A cedar pergola extending off the house echoes the natural tones of interior beams; another edges the bluff alongside a round pebble mosaic bordered by Iceberg roses, boxwood, and cypress. The team restored a concrete rill that sweeps a straight line down toward the ocean.

At the perimeter of the property, the elements become looser, more homegrown: for instance, a dining area tucked in the shade of California live oaks and pepper and coral trees. “In the wilder landscape, you can really become immersed in the natural beauty of Southern California.”

2020 World's Most Beautiful Gardens winner for Most Inspired Materials Mix
Design by Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects, with Christina Rottman(Original design by Nancy Goslee Power & Associates)

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