- President’s Trophy
- Best entry from all residential categories.
- Madrone Landscapes Inc.
- Project Name: Riding Residence
- Award Sponsor: Smith Pipe & Supply Inc.
Who won: Madrone Landscapes, Inc., headquartered in Atascadero. The design, installation and maintenance firm was established in 1977, has 14 employees and works on residential and commercial projects.
For what project? Landscape around a newly constructed custom home on a hilltop in west Paso Robles. The home, built by Woodruff Construction Company Inc., of Templeton, is on a 2-acre site surrounded by oak woodlands and adjacent to the homeowners’ vineyard. About a dozen striking pieces of contemporary art dot the property.
Who’s who at Madrone: Rick Mathews is owner and president; his wife, Valene Mathews, is marketing director; Loren Lush is operations manager, Jeannie Mallory is office manager.
Who’s who on this project: Rick Mathews was “very hands-on,” along with Madrone’s project manager Loren Lush; foreman and irrigation specialist Efren Castro, who also manages the maintenance; and landscape technician and stone specialist Higinio Benetiz.
What is Madrone Landscapes, Inc. known for? “Use of native plants and our sustainable and environmentally responsible approach to landscaping,” Mathews says. “Over the years, our main niche has been that of a sustainable landscape company. ... We are also known for our community involvement, for taking our relationships with our clients very seriously and for doing a very good job.”
What was the scope of work? Grading, irrigation, planting and masonry around the house and throughout the grounds. Setting off the art pieces to best effect was an especially important aspect of the job.
Who did the design work? “This design was a collaboration that all started with the vision of the owners — they had a very clear vision of what they wanted,” Mathews says. “We were working from a very rough (vague) conceptual sketch, but all of the plant material was chosen in collaboration with the owners. We had weekly meetings, sometimes twice a week, to go from one stage to the next.”
How long did the project take? Three to four months, from autumn 2007 to spring 2008.
And the budget? Just under $200,000.
What’s the showstopper? The integration of art, home and landscape.
What are some of its coolest features? Plantings of drought-tolerant and native species around the perimeter of the house, in addition to plantings and stonework that accent the art pieces. Madrone built numerous terraces, dry creek beds and dry-stack retaining walls that integrate art, home and grounds. Rocks and boulders from excavation of the vineyard were used liberally.
What else is cool? The bocce ball court, its adjacent flagstone patio, and stairs descending from the back of the home to the court, are major focal points. The patio and stairs — constructed inside steel frames made by the homebuilder — are ingenious and artful combinations of decomposed granite, Three Rivers flagstone and Mexican beach pebbles. “We sifted the DG to a very, very fine texture, compacted it, and added a stabilizer called PolyPavement it to make less vulnerable to weather,” Mathews says. “With the lights on at night, it’s fabulous.”
Anything else? “We also made a diagonal grid of French lavender that matches the angles of the adjacent hillside — that is really cool. We brought in over 200 lavender plants for that.”
What other kinds of plants were used? A variety of California natives and drought-tolerant species, including: deer grass; feather reed grass and other native ornamental grasses; native yucca; barrel cactus, horsetail bamboo, red hot poker plant, rosemary, rock roses, olive trees, ceanothus, several varieties of lavender. Large swaths of coyote brush were installed as slope stabilizers and provide a transition to the native landscape beyond. Yarrow and Tom Thumb flax punctuate the area along the stairs in the back of the home.
Any specimen plants? Mexican fan palm and a half-dozen coast live oaks in 72-inch boxes.
Any challenges? “Making this nice big garden work with a very limited water supply. ... They have a well with adequate delivery, but this is a large area, so there wasn’t much storage,” Mathews says. “We had to calculate our water use very carefully to make sure it fell within their delivery and recharge criteria. We didn’t want to run the well dry, so it’s largely drip irrigation with only four circuits of MP Rotators.”
Did you pick up any bits of wisdom from this project that you can share? “I think there is an inspiration to be had in being creative in trying to solve site issues. The soil was a very difficult hilltop, degraded soil in some cases, that was very high pH. One of the things I’m most proud of is that this project qualifies as one that emphasizes sustainable principles and is being recognized in a mainstream category. I think that is truly gratifying to those of use who embrace this approach.”
