In 2004 we were asked by residents of Chester, Vermont to develop a parking area and courtyard for their historic farmstead. This project presented a unique challenge due to the unusual architecture of the site, where the original farmhouse had been replaced by a kit house after a fire, then accentuated recently by a modern addition. The goal of the project was to blend past, present, and future into an intelligent design that worked for the space.

To best compliment both the contemporary architecture of the addition and historic importance of the farmstead, we chose to design a modern courtyard and build it with methods and materials that would have been used in the 1800s. By sourcing stone locally as well as implementing dry-laid techniques, we were able to create a landscape that looked aesthetically similar to the rest of the property while still giving the space a modern flow. This unique opportunity to fuse the past with the present is a humble testament to the power of landscape to transgress time.