Pacific Palisades Beach House

This large property sits directly on the beach beneath the Pacific Palisades. Our client Liana is from Sweden, and her fantasy was of a colorful garden filled with flowers to remind her of the cottage gardens back home in Europe. Earthworks’ challenge was to create this kind of garden in the difficult beach microclimate.

The house had been built around a central court yard created by the wings of the main house and a guesthouse. This provided a certain amount of protection from the salty ocean wind. In the shade of the two story home we planted pink and white abutilon, hydrangea, blue geraniums, slivery artemisia and a few cushions of impatiens for strong color. In the sunnier corners we able to add roses, lavender, and salvias. The result is informal and romantic. A bench under a wrought iron arch provides a place to slow down and enjoy the garden which otherwise might simply be passed through.

The back of the house faces the ocean and sits directly on the sand. A glass wall was erected to maintain the view but protect the garden and a planting of iceberg roses and artemisia from the wind as well as to separate the garden from the bike path that passes directly in front of it. A broad flagstone terrace along the full width of the house leads with wide steps down to the lawn and pool. To soften the generous expanse of the stairs we planted mounds of geraniums, veronica and Santa Barbara Daisies directly into planters in the steps.