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Many watershape and landscape designers will attest to the fact that their best projects are those where no one element stands out among the rest; instead, the entire exterior composition is a balanced integration of beautiful materials and well-chosen features. Take the property shown here as a case in point, suggests Colleen Holmes, who transformed the grounds of a stately home in a historic Los Angeles neighborhood into a space of remarkably subtle beauty.

Graceful Transformation

Everything about this project was classic and beautiful. For one thing, the home has the soft look of a French country chateau. For another, it’s located in Hancock Park, one of the oldest of Los Angeles’ upscale downtown neighborhoods. And when you add in the fact that it sits on a half-acre-plus lot on a quiet street, we had the pleasing sense that we’d landed on a refreshing oasis at the heart of a bustling metropolis. We also enjoyed the privilege of working here with Andres Cardenes, a wonderful architect who had collaborated with these clients on and off for several years. In their latest endeavor, he had come in to refurbish the home along historic and formal lines – something that often happens in this neighborhood, which boasts numerous restored and beautifully maintained homes across a range of architectural styles. Our firm, New Leaf Landscape of Agoura Hills, Calif., had worked with Cardenes on previous projects. When he called, he talked a bit about the situation and let us know that he thought we’d be a great fit because of the way we