The front vestibule gable features buttress-style brick pillars. These pillars angle outward to create a unique proportion that draws the eye to the center of the home when you first set your eyes on it.

This specific masonry detail creates a sense of solidity when looking at the front facade, while characterizing this home with timeless traditional charm. The single-storey massing compounds this intended feeling of solidity, warmth, and traditional charm. These “wings” of the home feature mansard roofs clad with cedar shakes and iron spire roof details. By incorporating single-storey proportions, Jesse’s intention was to capture the sprawling and rambling character of historical renditions of this home in proportion, layout, and composition.

They are reminiscent of the libraries, chapels, and orangeries that were commonly associated with original renditions of this grand design style. The massing of these single-storey rooms serves to ground the home among its surroundings despite its impressively large proportions. This reduces the imposition of the massing while creating a front courtyard that is uniquely inviting. Lined with gardens and ambient lighting, these structures create the feeling of the home sprawling and rambling to every corner of the property. This highlights the cedar shake roofing texture as well, as it is set at a much lower height. The result is a classically traditional rendition of a sunroom that extends forward to greet guests.

The garages were quietly tucked away on the left side of the home in order to prioritize both the interior layout as well as the front facade. Jesse designed a cohesively styled bay window that looks into this garage in order to hide its presence. This feature also creates a courtyard on the left side of the home with plenty of space for accommodating guests, the benefit of working with a prestigiously large lot. This not only creates a cohesive front facade but also results in an impressively wide facade with no visual breaks that aren’t proportionately intentional.

The swooping eyebrow dormers and bay windows are a quaintly charming feature, offering natural light to the second floor while uniquely characterizing the front facade. The view of the massing on your left is another specifically unique part of Jesse’s design. This is a great display of his use of proportions to capture the specific emotion he wants a viewer to feel when they first lay eyes on the finished product. It speaks to Jesse’s approach of designing the home through the eyes of what a visitor would experience walking up to the front door for the first time. In this case, you are met with a range of proportions, materials, and unique masonry details that strike you with traditional English Countryside charm.

The rear facade of this home was designed to create a connection to its natural surroundings. Like the front, it features expansive windows throughout, offering direct views of a myriad of gardens, auxiliary structures, and a tennis court. But it goes even further, as this thoughtfully composed backyard is filled with unique landscape design features.

What I love about the above rendering is that you can really appreciate the proportions of the manor. The backyard’s design not only complements the architecture but also highlights the scale of the structure. Imagine how grand it must feel while swimming in that pool!

The landscape design for the grounds was developed in collaboration with Paul Sangha Creative, and the results were spectacular. The elevated grade at the rear of the home was used to our advantage, creating an opportunity to nestle the pool house and lounge into the hill. Tiered gardens with a diverse composition of plant species flank it on either side, creating a spectacle of lush greenery visible from the home’s interior and in the pool and fire pit lounge.

Another great example of working with the grade of the property to make the home’s amenities feel naturally placed is the tennis court. The impetus behind this decision was to try to hide the court from view within the ground floor plan of the home, visually prioritizing the pool, poolhouse, gardens, and lounge. By placing this amenity at this elevation, we created space and gave the tennis court a grand view of the home. It creates quite a setting for your morning match as architectural significance, lush gardens, and a gorgeous tree line at the rear of the grounds surround players.