Set against the beautiful backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this garden was conceived as a quiet dialogue with the land. On his first visit, Luciano was immediately drawn to a hilltop site positioned some way from the main house. Here, an existing timber barn looked out over a grouping of winged elms, backed by mountains in the distance. It was here that Luciano decided to create a flower garden: an expansive prairie-style planting project created in collaboration with renowned perennial plantsman Roy Diblik.

Echoing the proportions of the barn, Luciano’s plans introduced a simple rectangular swimming pool, its formal lines quickly softened by sweeping, organically shaped planting beds. Containing approximately 14,000 grasses and perennials, the garden unfolds in soft drifts down the hillside, out towards the landscape beyond. The planting is naturalistic yet deliberate, an interplay of texture and season, where seed heads, fading stems, and shifting colour are all part of the story.

Informed by Roy’s expertise in prairie ecology, the palette is fluid, resilient, and deeply attuned to the climate. There is a rich mix of grasses such as Panicum virgatum, Muhlenbergia and Sporobolus, alongside flowering perennials including Asters, Amsonia, Digitalis parviflora, Eupatorium and Echinacea pallida, which create a particularly striking display through the summer months

Around the main house, a series of gardens have been created, including an arrival court, an internal courtyard, orchard, and vegetable garden. Interwoven, these spaces form the thresholds between the architecture and the wider landscape.

The architecture was designed by Gil Schafer Architects and the interiors by Atelier AM.