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| HOME RULE: GARDEN PARTY |
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Landscape Status
Dan Snyder and Tom Breit take the Slayton House to a new level of intrigue. |
| BY SHERRY MOELLER |
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AFTER INTERIOR ENHANCEMENTS guided by architect Hugh
Newell Jacobsen were completed, all that was missing from the iconic
Slayton House, designed by architect I.M. Pei, were the final landscape
touches.
To bring the outer area up to the status of the interior, owners Dan
Snyder and Tom Breit turned to Jay Graham, principal of Graham
Landscape Architecture. Blurring the lines between inside and out,
Graham planted two different species of ophiopogon, hellebores, white
azaleas, and black bamboo to stretch strategically across the small but
private Northwest Washington site. Jacobsen and Graham advised Snyder
on a pool that reflects the axis of the open floor plan, with honed Turkish
travertine throughout the inside-outside entertainment spaces.
Graham incorporated plant materials, textures, and colors to provide
interest and to clarify Snyder’s formula for an ideal outdoor setting.
“The planting had to perform more architectural functions, with crisp
lines that start and stop,” Graham says. “A garden of that size has to look
good in winter and summer,” he adds, noting that Snyder’s creativity
drove the landscape design.
The Slayton House has gained landmark status, which is unusual for
a home that’s less than 50 years old and was designed by an architect
who’s still alive. The new landscaping complements the architecture
more purposefully than ever. With outdoor space becoming increasingly
important for every dwelling, especially of this size—2,500 square feet—
Snyder and Breit see the enhancements as an extension of the home’s
interior traffic flow. Snyder explains, “It’s a small space, but it works
like a bigger one.” |
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