Porch project wins landscaping gold award
16 Dec, 2011 LDB SolutionsHursthouse Landscape Architects and Contractors win the Illinois Landscaping Contractor Association’s Gold Award.
Hursthouse Landscape Architects and Contractors fronted a home with fairy tale cottage curbside appeal to win the Illinois Landscaping Contractor Association’s (ILCA) Gold Award. the project was dubbed “Once Upon a Front Porch” by Hursthouse, a landscape architecture and contracting firm with clients in the Chicago area, throughout Illinois and around the Midwest.
Built in 1928, the home’s former entryway did not match the home’s historical character. A narrow walk led up to a few stairs with handrails to a petite landing area. Construction and materials clashed with the home and there was no connection between the driveway and the entryway.
When Kim and Dave Prickett purchased the property, they knew they wanted to echo the home’s original character in the exterior landscape design.
“Over the years, I’ve been privileged to work with Hursthouse to develop their marketing materials. As a designer myself, I appreciate Hursthouse’s passion to create incredible landscape solutions that impact people’s lives,” Dave Prickett said.
Along with the ILCA Gold Award, the home is also the winner of the Village of Glen Ellyn’s Historic Preservation award for its sensitivity to detail.
Intentionally designed to be larger than it looks, the garden foyer area combines several elements into a narrow lot, which is made even smaller by the limits of a tight building setback.
While the main focus of the project is the arrival sequence, many design details contribute to the project’s pleasing landscape architecture and construction.
Custom cut quarry stone, selected to match the original stone’s 70 year-old weathered finish, blends in as a freshly aged partner in porch walls and columns. Near the sidewalk at the end of the property, a freestanding column adorned by a seasonal planter repeats the porch proportions. On the porch, limestone columns greet guests with seasonal plantings. On the home’s façade, oiled hardwood shutters punctuate windows with color that enriches the home’s monochromatic exterior color palette.
Bluestone paving extends the interior foyer’s slate tile, while stone-clad steps provide additional seating and lead to a gathering area below. Three-inch-thick rock-faced bluestone coping reinforces the texture of the home and masonry.
Flanked by a carriage walk, the driveway is inlaid with limestone cobble to complement the home’s detailing.
At night, low voltage landscape lighting with photovoltaic timers complements the home while highlighting the façade and its features. Cast bronze bullet lights and copper path lights extend the home’s inviting character into the evening hours. Line voltage outlets and low voltage light fixtures within the walls and columns provide functionality and security.
Plant materials include shade trees and border plantings that diffuse late afternoon sun from the site’s western exposure, while providing scale and framed views while on the porch. An intentional placement of perimeter plantings frames the home, provides subtle views, and offers light relief from late afternoon sun angles. Causal planting textures soften hardscape edges, reinforcing a cottage aesthetic – and adding to the enchanting “Once Upon a Porch” effect.
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