The approach from the street, treated as one composition

The front entry does more work per square foot than any other part of a property. It is the first thing every visitor sees and the piece of the landscape that gets used every single day, in every season.

We treat the steps, the walk, the lighting and the planting as one composition rather than four separate purchases. The line of the walk gets set first, generously enough for two people side by side, and the paving then ties the entry back to the drive and through to the rest of the property.

On sloped sites the same thinking runs further out. Terraced boulder walls and stone stairways can turn a hillside that was only ever looked at into a route people actually use.