• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • The Magazine
    • The Peachy Team
    • 2025
      • Spring 2025 (Båstad, Sweden)
    • 2024
      • Spring 2024 (Jacksonville)
      • Summer 2024 (Boston)
      • Fall 2024 (Aspen)
      • Holiday 2024
    • 2023
      • Spring 2023 (Anniversary Issue)
      • Summer 2023 (Turks & Caicos)
      • Fall 2023 (Charlotte)
      • Holiday 2023
    • 2022
      • Spring 2022 (Nantucket)
      • Summer 2022 (Austin)
      • Fall 2022 (Asheville)
      • Holiday 2022
    • 2021
      • Spring 2021 (Charlotte interiors)
      • Summer 2021 (St. Louis)
      • Fall 2021 (Palm Beach)
      • Holiday 2021
    • 2020
      • Spring 2020 (Richmond)
      • Summer 2020 (Greenville, SC)
      • Fall 2020 (The Hamptons)
      • Holiday 2020
    • 2019
      • Spring 2019 (Santa Fe)
      • Summer 2019 (Charlotte Garden Issue)
      • Fall 2019 (Cape Cod)
      • Holiday 2019
    • 2018
      • Spring 2018 (Boston)
      • Summer 2018 (Ponte Vedra)
      • Fall 2018 (Anniversary Issue)
      • Holiday 2018
    • 2017
      • Spring 2017 (Birmingham)
      • Summer 2017 (San Francisco)
      • Fall 2017 (Jackson Hole)
      • Holiday 2017
    • 2016
      • Spring 2016 (Savannah)
      • Summer 2016 (Los Angeles)
      • Fall 2016 (NC Mountains)
      • Holiday 2016
    • 2015
      • February March 2015 (Nashville)
      • May June 2015 (Washington, D.C.)
      • July August 2015 (New Orleans)
      • September October 2015 (Austin)
      • Holiday 2015
    • 2014
      • January February 2014 (Park City)
      • March 2014 (Chicago)
      • April May 2014 (Charlotte)
      • June July 2014 (Charleston)
      • August September 2014 (Santa Barbara)
      • October November 2014 (Atlanta)
      • Holiday 2014
    • 2013
      • September 2013 (Charlotte)
      • October November 2013 (Dallas)
      • Holiday 2013 (New York)
  • Style
  • Beauty
  • Entertaining
  • Interiors
  • Gardens
  • Wellness
  • Insiders’ Guides

Peachy the Magazine

You are here: Home / Gardens / A Garden with a View

October 1, 2015

A Garden with a View

WRITTEN BY Blair Farris
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Casey Dunn
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE BY Lance Thompson, Thompson + Hanson
ARCHITECTURE BY Ryan Street & Associates
BUILDER Brian A. Bailey Homes

garden with a view casey dunn photographer

When I tell people who haven’t been to Austin that the terrain is extremely hilly with cliffs overlooking the Colorado River, most folks just don’t get it. Texas is so flat, they say. Lance Thompson with Thompson + Hanson was hired to make sense out of a difficult but stunning lot. The steep terrain—combined with issues like rocky outcrops with little to no soil and deer munching everything in sight— proved daunting. Clearly, the payoff was worth it. The home features a beautiful view overlooking Town Lake, or as it is now called, Lady Bird Lake.

Lance felt that the steep ascent to the top of the site would be best tackled by designing “planters” of stone that blended in with the natural stone on the lot, so he created areas to fill with soil for the plantings. In the front and more public part of the design, the plantings consist of Mexican wiregrass, green agave, trailing rosemary, boxwood, fig ivy and Italian cypress. Since deer are so prevalent in the area, Lance chose plants that were deer-proof.

garden with a view casey dunn photographer

This strategy worked naturally with the idea of the public area being a little “wilder,” then transitioning to a more formal design closer to the house.

The steep driveway made of Belgard pavers leads to a flat spot at the top of the lot. The change in design and plant material is visible immediately. The walkway and terraces are made of Jerusalem stone—a light limestone that is more refined than the natural stone but blends beautifully.

garden with a view casey dunn photographer

Lance also designed more formal spaces for his clients to enjoy. The two clipped boxwood parterres flanking the walkway are centered on a pair of beautiful windows in the front of the house. One window provides stunning views from the home’s dining room, while a long, wide gallery leading to the master suite features the other front window.

The refined design closer to the house has a plant palette consisting of boxwood, Burford holly, viburnum, Asian jasmine, Italian cypress, holly fern, olive trees and seasonal color.

garden with a view casey dunn photographer

The back of the house has a view of downtown Austin through the study window and also overlooks Lady Bird Lake. As the house is situated on a cliff, there was little opportunity for landscaping in the back. The main outdoor space for the homeowners is a lovely terrace off the back. The terrace, also constructed of Jerusalem stone, is flanked by a small lawn panel with plantings and clipped hedges on one side and by the study on the other side. The outdoor living room has a beautiful kitchen, dining area, multiple seating areas and an infinity pool that literally drops over the edge of the cliff.

garden with a view casey dunn photographer

Despite a difficult lot, both the architect and landscape architect used the challenging elements of the site to their advantage to connect the inside of the house to the outside. By using carefully planned sight lines, maximizing the gorgeous views and working with the natural terrain, they achieved a stunning result—a home that is a carefully integrated partnership between indoors and out.

Gardens Leave a Comment

Previous Post: « Home on the Range: An Architectural Wonder Perched Above the Llano River
Next Post: The Effect of Exercise on the Brain »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Instagram icon   Facebook icon   Pinterest icon   LikeToKnow.It icon

Subscribe to Peachy

Sign up for your free subscription to Peachy the Magazine.

Kirsten Dexter Spring 2025 Ad
Capizzi Fall 2024 Ad
Cake For Dinner Spring 2025 Ad
Road to Resolution Ad
Ellen Kelly Homes Spring 2025 ad
Wendy Bilas Ad

Contact Us

Questions? Comments? Interested in partnering with us? We would love to hear from you.

Privacy Policy and Disclaimers

Footer


A special thanks to our fabulous partners:
Kirsten Dexter Fine Jewelry logo     Capizzi MD logo     Road to Resolution logo       Ellen Kelly Helen Adams Realty logo       Cake For Dinner logo     Lisa Cashion SparkWell logo     Wendy Bilas Fine Art logo

© 2025 Peachy the Magazine · Wordpress theme by Design By Bloom