Client:

Private Residence

Architect:

David Woodhouse Architects

Contractors:

Green Mansions, Gray Carlson

Category:

Residential Design

Originally a weekend retreat home, the Indiana Dune Residence has matured into a year-round house distinguishing itself from its neighbors with its green roof and gardens that dissolve the boundaries between architecture and nature.

Nestled into a woodland dune at the end of a steep road near the coast of Lake Michigan, the garden includes terraced slopes and retaining walls with a rich mix of evergreen trees, shrubs, deciduous shrubs, perennials, groundcovers and bulbs. With a site elevation of 15 feet, the instability of the dune in combination with the steep slope created challenges for the landscape architect. A portion of the dune was carved out for a retaining wall offering spectacular full-window views of the garden from inside the screened porch. A green roof featuring perennial geraniums, salvia, daylily, grasses and annuals creates a changing pattern of color that seamlessly links the green roof to the garden. Drawn from a small family quarry in the northern peninsula of Michigan, seam-faced limestone forms a stepped pathway leading from the parking zone up through the garden to the pool and upper courtyard garden near the summit of the dune. Early involvement on the project allowed collaboration between the architect, client and landscape architect on framing views and developing the relationship between the home’s architecture and the garden.