Longshore Residence

Falmouth, MA

Coastal flood regulations required the new house to be raised five feet above the adjacent neighborhood fabric. The design eases this transition with thoughtful grading, a sunken fire garden and a nuanced perimeter planting scheme that provides a sense of enclosure and privacy for the owners while enhancing views from neighboring properties to the elevated house and landscape spaces.

A native shrub and flowering tree thicket provide screening of the first floor from the approach, enhance the arrival experience and provide beautiful layered views from the house. The cobble apron gives way to a gently sloping granular drive leading up to the parking court, which provides circulation to the house and landscape spaces around the property. Groupings of native shrubs and hedges frame the parking court and heighten connections to the more intimate garden spaces.

Stone steppers lead from the parking court past a grouping of beach plum and through the entry garden to the front door. Naturally weathered cedar gates, embedded in a flowering evergreen hedge, lead to the play lawn and the kitchen garden.

The kitchen garden is a sacred landscape space on the property. The owners are avid cooks, enjoying a primarily plant-based diet. The four large raised cedar beds provide ample space for their seasonal cultivation of herbs, vegetables and cut flowers. The owners are currently browsing antique markets to find the perfect worktable to compliment this garden.