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Four age ago , instrumentalist Nate Mendel buy a household in the Los Angeles pitcher’s mound fence by a scrappy lawn and a few bounteous trees . It sat wide open to the street , and an energy - guzzle swimming pool swallowed much of its half - Akko lot . But the 5,000 - square - base menage itself was a gem , a low - slung cattle ranch built in 1953 and uninfluenced since . Mendel , basso player for the often - touring post - grunge stripe the Foo Fighters , felt sure it could be transformed into a welcoming dwelling base . While its restorative deal and vale views were already in stead , the garden needed major help .
The result of this menage ’s " garden makeover , " design by landscape painting designer Mark Tessier . photograph by : Ann Summa . SEE MORE photo OF THIS GARDEN
Mendel has a Northwesterner ’s reverence for woodland and a SoCal transplant ’s appreciation of sunny , arid Los Angeles . As the son of a gardening dad , Mendel “ energetically dug holes ” as a child in easterly Washington , and he desire his 8 - year - sure-enough son , Noah , to have the same experience with lots of play space that was easy to maintain and did n’t overtax the surroundings . When he works at plate — in the euphony studio / office / guest pavilion design by architects Elissa Scrafano and Gus Duffy , who also renovated the sign — Mendel needs to cheat outside for inspiration . Before a single works went in , Mendel and landscape designer Mark Tessier spend hour walking the foresighted , narrow lot , discuss option . “ Mark was good at tactfully shooting down my impracticable ideas , ” Mendel remembers , smiling . “ Then he ’d tell me what would work and still capture the feeling I was after . ”
Both saw the home ’s siting as a scout . look the street to the sou'-west and the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains to the northeast , it suggest two distinct outside space , one woodsy and sheltered , the other burnished and bird’s-eye , with a lawn surround the pool . threshold and window on the home plate ’s four slope dictated the scale and locating of garden zones . The kitchen now overlooks a spacious covered couch , a media room link to the swimming pool , and a fun room open up onto a seat porch that ’s coolheaded on blazing good afternoon . The new garden , created by Tessier and his associate Joshua Rosen , offer a sequence of scenes , include a Dominicus - cloud wood walk , a Valencia orangeness grove that recalls the valley ’s agrarian past , and a gathering spot topped with backer ’s trumpet(brugmansia ) . A hedging of Nipponese blueberry ( Elaeocarpus decipiens ) supply secrecy on the street side , where a translucent gate opens onto a splashing fountain , and a bridge to the front door cross a recessed bed of succulent in lieu of a pool . “ The succulents seem exotic because of how they ’re treat , ” says Tessier . “ And the sound of water enhances the illusion of a pond , which would have ask more resources . ”
Succulent planting include red - edgedEcheveria subrigida‘Fire and Ice ’ and rich purpleAeonium arboreum‘Zwartkop . ’ Photo by : Ann Summa . SEE MORE photograph OF THIS GARDEN
To keep within Mendel ’s ecowise parameter , Tessier fit a new 30- by 15 - animal foot solar - heated brine pool into the honest-to-goodness pool ’s larger systema skeletale , which was less expensive and waste - producing than full demolition . He preserved existing Tree : coast live oak tree ( Quercus agrifolia ) , Brazilian capsicum tree ( Schinus terebinthifolius ) , and sweet glue ( Liquidambar styraciflua ) , all suited to Los Angeles ’ climate . And for lushness , he planted the front garden ’s “ wood ” with tough California sycamore ( Platanus racemosa ) that echo the grayish , green , and bronze color palette indoors . These Tessier underplanted with low - maintenance ornamental grasses ( Carex glauca and Leymus condensatus‘Canyon Prince ’ ) and creeping germander ( genus Teucrium chamaedrys‘Prostratum ’ ) , a Mediterranean with sorry - green leaves that belie its drought - tolerance .
With input from Mendel , Tessier kept the plant list short , massing their choices into uncluttered , limited - sort swaths that repeat from garden to garden but also underscore ingenuousness . “ We seek high-pitched and low-spirited for sycamores with quirky mannikin , run or multitrunked , the orphans no one want , so they ’d look as if they ’d grown here from seeded player , ” says Tessier . He post the trees at random - feeling time interval , which , again , suggested nature ’s hand .
The glorious flushed blooms of a bottlebrush ( callistemon ) enliven the furnishing ’ colours . Photo by : Ann Summa . SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GARDEN
A serial of itinerary draws a circuit around the house , their materials vary from earthy decomposed granite to concrete , sometimes seamed with pasturage . One formal landscape element — the grid of succus - orange trees — serves as a conversion between the theater and the multipurpose marquee , where Mendel and his girl , Kate Jackson , a music publicist and artists ’ handler , spend in - Ithiel Town work daylight . “ At first , ” Mendel says , “ the idea seemed ostentatious , but then I thought , ‘ Hmm , I could go execute and pick the orangeness on my way of life back for breakfast ! ’ ”
Now that the garden is done , state Jackson , they use every incision of it when Mendel is n’t tour , whether that ’s to host Noah ’s friends for pool days or drink wine with their friends around the lounge ’s fire pit . Mostly , though , says Jackson : “ When we ’re in the garden , Nate ’s in relaxation / zone - out mode . I ’ll ask him , ‘ What ’re you thinking about ? ’ He always answers , ‘ Music . ’ ”
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