Project Gallery

Oceanfront Moon Gate

The gateway signals the entrance to a narrow trail, eventually opening up to a bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  We were fortunate to acquire some beautiful large beach stones from a nearby derelict retaining wall.  The circle is comprised of beach stones and the buttresses consist of re-claimed granite, matching the existing walls on the property.  Originally there was no wall, so no reason for a gateway.  The challenge was to give the illusion that the moon gate created an opening in an existing wall, so the ends of the wall were thickly planted to suggest that the wall continued on, obscured by the vegetation.

The owners of this picturesque farm chose the perfect location for their family cemetery.  We gathered fieldstone from a wooded area of the property and built a dry stack wall to frame this idyllic spot.  The venerable old oak tree stands guard over the space.

Circular Raised Terrace

Here is a residence which had an undersized rear deck.  The owners were looking for a much larger outdoor living space.  A quarter circle was cut out of the deck, creating a generous upper landing which dovetails with a 24′ diameter terrace and seating wall.  Walls consist of tailings from an abandoned granite quarry in Oneco, CT, with 2″ custom cut bluestone capstones.

Lichens lend a patina of age to seating wall capstones

Fireplace with seating walls

Constructed from three stone sources, all recycled and re-purposed: scraps of granite curbing, stone salvaged from a demolished building, and old cobblestones.  The fireplace looks as if it has been there for years, though the photo was taken days after completion.

Graduation platform in the University of Rhode Island Botanical Gardens

Dry laid re-purposed granite walls intersecting at a round pillar exclamation point.

Fieldstone and bluestone patio anchored by a millstone fountain.  Anything with water, especially moving water, requires a lot of work behind the scenes.

A false bottom was built over the reservoir, then covered with river rock.  This provides several benefits: the pump is hidden from view, the river rocks amplify the sound of the splashing water, maintaining water level and clarity are not so important.  Water in the garden is like a magic trick: don’t allow the audience to see behind the curtain.

This beautiful historic home on Narrow River in Narragansett, regrettably, had asphalt paving leading all the way to both front staircases.  We removed several hundred square feet of asphalt, then added desperately needed planting beds to soften all that hardscape.  The new stone landing ties both entrances together and creates a pleasing transition between vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

The paving consists of large slabs of mica schist with a band of re-claimed granite curbing that defines the border with the asphalt.  I broke my own unwritten rule of using locally sourced or recycled stone by bringing in mica schist from a quarry in Goshen, MA.  We wanted to do something a little different and also use some really big stones that would stand up to the massive granite outcropping that looms over the entrance.  The larger stones measure about 5’x5′.

These semi-circular steps and landing make for an inviting entrance to the covered porch.  The owners’ planters add a touch of class.  Fieldstone risers with bluestone treads

Entrance pillar – one of two pillars framing a new driveway entrance cut into an historic estate in Jamestown, RI.  The fieldstones were locally sourced, the capstones were comprised of reclaimed 4″ thick scraps of bluestone curbing, four stones per pillar, mitered at the corners to give the appearance of a single stone.  The pillars echo the stone columns of the gatehouse in the background.