It’s rare that a homeowner requests that a garden be high-maintenance. But that’s exactly what Will Massie of Richmond wanted. “I’m passionate about gardens and enjoy doing everything myself, so ours is designed to be one I can actually work in,” he says.
When he and his wife, Alice, bought their 1910 brick-and-limestone home on Monument Avenue, they asked landscape architect Charles J. Stick to redesign the garden, an overgrown area that didn’t relate to the house.
“The main house is a very strong and elegant architectural statement,” says Stick. “I wanted the garden to maintain this spirit of elegance and harmony.”
As co-owner of the outdoor furniture company McKinnon and Harris, Will has gardening in his genes. His two grandmothers, for whom the company is named, inspired a love for it in him, and it’s become a family tradition.
“My daughter, Ella, has a small plot that she tends,” he says. With geraniums, herbs, and lamb’s ears, the 11-year-old loves to start with seeds and watch things grow. “Her plot has more color than anywhere else in the garden,” Will says.
