Pacific Palisades Retreat

This Pacific Palisades renovation reimagines the landscape as a series of connected outdoor rooms shaped by family life, climate, and time. Designed for a young family, the garden balances openness and enclosure, creating spaces that invite both movement and pause.

A Mediterranean planting palette establishes continuity across the site, with finer textures at the front and deeper, shaded layers at the rear. Existing elements were carefully reworked, with select plantings relocated and integrated into a renewed composition.

Circulation is central to the experience. A bridge over a reflecting pool defines the entry sequence, while limestone pathways and expanded ipe decking guide movement through the garden. Programmed spaces, including a sunken fire pit, dining pergola, and open-air spa, extend the home outward.

Low-impact strategies, fire-conscious planting, and water management systems support long-term resilience, ensuring the landscape remains both responsive and enduring.

The mood boards reflect a quiet composition of light, softness, and atmosphere, shaped by the client’s desire for a calm and grounded space.

On existing site, three protected Sycamore trees and a neighbouring Stone Pine are features to be highlighted in the new design.

Many large plants were salvaged and moved around the site. The pool and all hardscape areas are to be completely renovated.

The plant palette focuses on drought-tolerant plants with a large variety of textures and colour.

The site is quite exposed to the heat of the California sun, so the shade studies were a driver in the conceptual design process.

Views from the model reveal key moments in the design, including a walk-through shower and a sunken fire pit that extends from the recreation room, introducing depth across the site.

A shaded nook offers relief from the heat, while water from the spa, connected to the primary bedroom, flows outward into the reflecting pool. The pergola has large cantilevered beams and a bar, creating a seamless connection to the rest of the landscape.