Bostwick Modern Build

The house came first. A turn-of-the-century Tacoma home had been renovated into something distinctly modern, and the garden it stood in still belonged to the original building.

The work here was mostly restraint. A landscape that tried to compete with that renovation would have produced two loud things arguing on one lot. Instead the planting and hardscape are sized and detailed to sit underneath the architecture: clean lines, a limited palette, and layered planting that softens the base of the house without dressing it up.

It is a smaller project than most of the ones on this page, and a good example that the right answer is not always more.