Edmonds Private Estate
Edmonds, WA
Set on six acres in Woodway near Edmonds, this residence blends the scale of a private estate with the quiet character of a forest clearing. When the home was first built more than twenty years ago, the owners asked us to create a landscape that felt deeply rooted to its setting: preserving mature Western red cedars and Douglas fir while extending the forest edge into a series of open lawns, trails, and equestrian pastures.
The original design treated the site as a continuous experience. The house, art studio, barn, and meadows were threaded together through long views and a park-like structure of canopy trees, with woody plantings and a more open ground plane. Gardens were positioned as both destination and backdrop, pairing contemplative spaces with working landscapes that supported the owners’ love of horses.
Two decades later, the owners invited the design team back to help the property evolve. Certain trees had outgrown their conditions, shade had overtaken once-sunny lawn, and entry plantings had been edited over time until the original layering and clarity were lost. Rather than reinventing, the work focused on selective refinement; keeping the bones of the garden intact while reintroducing softness and seasonal expression.
Recent improvements included extending the rear terrace and converting adjacent lawn to an eco-turf mix better suited to shade and daily use. The update was prompted in part by the arrival of a small dog, who needed a contained outdoor area without sacrificing the integrity of the larger landscape. At the entry, dense shrub massing was carefully thinned and replanted with a more nuanced, perennial-forward palette that brings light back to the threshold and restores the progression of textures that defined the original design intent.
The landscape now reads as a mature forest garden. Still structured, still spacious, but with a finer grain of planting that reflects how the owners use the property today. It is a project tended across time: a contemporary estate that has grown into its site, and continues to evolve through care and use.
Edmonds, WA
Set on six acres in Woodway near Edmonds, this residence blends the scale of a private estate with the quiet character of a forest clearing. When the home was first built more than twenty years ago, the owners asked us to create a landscape that felt deeply rooted to its setting: preserving mature Western red cedars and Douglas fir while extending the forest edge into a series of open lawns, trails, and equestrian pastures.
The original design treated the site as a continuous experience. The house, art studio, barn, and meadows were threaded together through long views and a park-like structure of canopy trees, with woody plantings and a more open ground plane. Gardens were positioned as both destination and backdrop, pairing contemplative spaces with working landscapes that supported the owners’ love of horses.
Two decades later, the owners invited the design team back to help the property evolve. Certain trees had outgrown their conditions, shade had overtaken once-sunny lawn, and entry plantings had been edited over time until the original layering and clarity were lost. Rather than reinventing, the work focused on selective refinement; keeping the bones of the garden intact while reintroducing softness and seasonal expression.
Recent improvements included extending the rear terrace and converting adjacent lawn to an eco-turf mix better suited to shade and daily use. The update was prompted in part by the arrival of a small dog, who needed a contained outdoor area without sacrificing the integrity of the larger landscape. At the entry, dense shrub massing was carefully thinned and replanted with a more nuanced, perennial-forward palette that brings light back to the threshold and restores the progression of textures that defined the original design intent.
The landscape now reads as a mature forest garden. Still structured, still spacious, but with a finer grain of planting that reflects how the owners use the property today. It is a project tended across time: a contemporary estate that has grown into its site, and continues to evolve through care and use.
