Reclaiming a Hillside: Where Function Meets Intention

Nestled midway down a wooded hillside beside an active stream, the Central Overlook project began with a critical stormwater management challenge. Over multiple phases, we reshaped the land, integrating stormwater solutions, structural plantings, and functional spaces—ensuring the landscape not only performs under extreme conditions but enhances daily life.

Over three years, the work grew deeper—layering technical clarity with softness, performance with presence. Together with the client, we shaped a site-responsive landscape that doesn’t just manage water. It creates a place to walk, pause, return.

What began as utility became invitation.
What began as a fix became an invitation home.

Over time, the landscape unfolded in three deliberate phases:

• The Overlook Path laid the foundation—a sculptural woodland spine guiding flow, access, and rhythm. It was the first phase to reclaim a part of the yard that had become unusable—a muddy, eroding slope that once made the site feel disconnected and unstable.

• Arrival, Replanted transformed the home’s threshold with quiet clarity—balancing foundation and foliage with restraint.

• And in the final phase, Rainwood Refuge reimagined a once-dismissed corner as a rain-fed woodland retreat—tucked into place like it had always been there.

This is a space that was shaped with intention—and softened over time.