How did the existing landscape influence your design, and how did you expand upon it?

A demilune-shaped bed dominated the front yard, and so it made sense to create shaped beds on both sides, therefore creating two entries. I used shaped boxwoods, which are both geometric and romantic and traditionally found around old Louisiana homes. The front garden consists only of boxwood, ivy, fern, figs, and oaks—all green.

The landscape and the exterior of the home complement each other so well. How did you achieve this?

The house has a Dutch Colonial roofline, a classical revival style with a mix of influences on the architecture—very mixed Southern vernacular. I chose a color from the Martin Senour Williamsburg Collection of historic paint colors. The shade is classic and neutral, just as the gardens are traditional and neutral with their monochromatic shades of green.

How do you begin to frame the outdoors and create outdoor living spaces?

I see it all as rooms, whether inside or outside. They all have boundaries and lines. I am inspired by classical gardens. In the secret garden, I took a French yet completely Southern concept and made oak trees a benefit by planting lines of them and formalizing their shape. This also lends more privacy to that side of the house. It is a Southern house with working windows that are fitted with screens, so you can get fresh air and hear the water features. The privacy of the secret garden affords the homeowners that opportunity.

One of the homeowners made the comment: “One of the things I love most is that almost everywhere you sit, you see something beautiful framed outside, such as an urn or a sculpture.” How do you accomplish this?

It’s all about composition. I want the house to slowly unfold, the perspectives and views to remain fresh, and all to be held within classical lines of architecture, whether interior or landscape. Everything is framed. Everything begins and ends for a reason, whether it’s a chair rail or boxwood hedge. You know what room or space you are in and what its purpose is. I guess that’s what drives me crazy about my profession. It’s the relationships between spaces, and just as important, around objects, and how they speak and act with one another.