Le Jardin De Mon Coeur
a mountain garden that brings striking views into the home
The Dream
Le Jardin de Mon Coeur means ‘the garden of my heart‘. Our client wanted a dramatic luxury garden that would serve as a place for the family to gather and a centerpiece for their mountain home.
The Challenge
Building on the very steeply sloping mountain site posed a substantial challenge. Our design needed to address how to gain more usable space on difficult terrain. The pre-existing garden had somewhat separated the magnificent mountain views from the patios and home with large shrubs. We wanted to develop a stronger connection to the land and mitigate the visual presence of a very steep slope.
The Garden
For Le Jardin de Mon Coeur, we created a classic ‘borrowing garden’, a principle of garden design where the background landscape is captured and brought forth into the garden composition.
To create this powerful connection with the mountains, we used a buried structure of steel that binds the rockwork, walls, water features, and lower patio soundly together, and pins them onto the mountainside. This enabled Viriditas to create a stable and enduring luxury garden on this amazing site.
As part of the overall design plan, we nearly doubled the size of the front yard to better match the size of the house, planted fruit trees for a private orchard, created a personal yoga garden, and added a roof garden to the house itself to ground the view from the master bedroom.
The beautiful mountain view is now a strong presence in the kitchen, great room, master bedroom, and observatory. As the owner states, “The view used to be there, but now it’s right here, even inside the house.”
The windy, exposed terrain influenced our choice of plantings. We worked with a variety of low-water-use plants, such as several varieties from the oregano, hyssop, manzanita, and specialty conifer families.
The garden is designed to be striking both day and night. We built three waterfalls on the water course with lights, and a sculpture fire feature, showcasing the abilities that sets Viriditas apart.
The RESULTS
The client wanted a design that would encourage use by their growing combined family. We listened and suggested that what the home needed was a ‘heart’ for activities and homelife to center around…Le Jardin de Mon Coeur became that heart.
The view used to be there, but now it’s right here, even inside the house.
Owner, Le Jardin De Mon Coeur
