Cliffhouse, Shelburne, Vermont

This modern and meticulously detailed new residence on the shores of Lake Champlain called for a landscape with the same modern aesthetic and attention to detail.  A very narrow, long site, bounded on the lake front by an existing sea wall, required the creation of a sequence of outdoor rooms stepping down from an autocourt and front entry to a bluestone terrace with pool, spa, and fire pit overlooking the lake, and then to a lakeside deck at the base of the sea wall, built over an existing concrete structure.  An understated yet rich materials palette, consisting of board-formed and exposed aggregate concrete and natural-cleft bluestone, derives its lines from the asymmetrical massing of the architecture, and is offset against simple, linear plantings of native trees, shrubs, and ornamental grasses.  A green roof on the garage can be viewed from a second floor guest room and art studio.