Musings.

Sprawled at the base of Old Rag Mountain; rolling hills, ancient rock outcroppings, freshwater trout streams, working farmland, and a network of nature corridors make the Etlan Property extremely complex. The design team set out to conduct a site analysis in order to unpack its holistic potential.HISTORICAL CONTEXT:  1725 - Established by German settlers, formerly Herbon community  1775 - Madison Men…

As we pass from autumn to winter, the landscape rests. It is a peaceful time of waiting and preparation. It is a time to reflect on the past year and look ahead to the next. This winter is like no other in our lifetimes. After nine months of trying to avoid a virus by living outdoors, we once again retreat…

As landscape architects, we often find ourselves meeting people where they are in life. We engage with a client at a precise moment in time, for better or for worse, unknowing of the challenges or triumphs that have beset each of us. This past year, we found the art of listening to be more valuable than the gift of gab.…

Margins are the nexus of activity and life in any ecosystem. At the margins of fields, forests, and waterways, a disproportionate amount of life and activity occurs. At the South Annapolis Yacht Centre on Spa Creek, this buzz of life has historically been related to human interaction with the water, including a symphony of boats, docks, bulkheads, and avid boaters…

This project was a true collaboration with the land, the architecture, and artist who always had the vision. CHLA was fortunate to be a part of this project from the beginning. Owner, Teresa Fishbeck, is an artist and was very involved in this project, both indoors and outdoors. There is not a detail of this garden that escaped her attention.…

One of Teresa Fishbeck’s 16” x 20” oil paintings on canvas, “Almost Home,” depicts a woman in a long white, flowing dress cinched at the waist, carrying flowers in one hand while whisking across a stone-paved bridge at sunset to a castle-like abode... Read More at Washington Life

When Marlene and E. Dale Adkins’s home of 22 years, a 1960s ranch house in Greenspring Valley, Maryland, was lost in a fire in 2013, the couple vowed to rebuild. Read on: https://www.dwell.com/article/baltimore-owings-mills-maryland-residential-architect-ziger-snead-burnt-wood-siding-corten-steel-shou-sugi-ban-fe0d5d78/cover

This landscape by Campion Hruby Landscape Architects was part of the renovation of a mid-century modern house by KUBE Architecture. Campion Hruby designed the fountain to add more drama to the already strong modernist connections with the garden. The water provides a visual connection outside, and the stepping stone path is a bridge to the garden. Read more: http://www.annapolishomemag.com/untroubled-waters/

In my last article, we discussed ways to pause and admire the nature that surrounds our homes. I have to admit that it really didn’t happen for me until very recently, after the rains and clouds gave way to a normal summer day on the Chesapeake Bay. With heat, humidity, reflecting sun, and the sounds of cicadas buzzing. I hit…