A fourth generation of the Key family has begun to ramble Winhall Hollow. Pond and stream, woods and fields, are the wider setting for their active home and garden life. Into the mix comes long-time friend and dry stone specialist, Dan Snow. He has constructed numerous stone features on the grounds around their house and barns. Stone from the property has been used to fashion steps, patios, retaining walls and fences. Robin Key’s landscape design has seamlessly woven a contemporary aesthetic into the historic fabric of the Hollow.
Read MoreAt the top of the frame is a pile of stone. Behind it are two hexagonal stone posts, and behind them, street curbing. The details of the posts and curbing suggest that the photo location was an established urban setting. It’s curious that the photographer intentionally placed his subject in front of a pile of stone, and not before the more formal backdrop that was available. The stone pile looks to be recently deposited due to the lack of vegetation that would otherwise be sprouting along its edges. The pile displays two types of clean stone; rubble and dressed blocks. The rubble may be the spoils from the production of the blocks but the casualness in the way the blocks are arranged makes it appear that they were dumped there and not produced at that exact location. To my builder’s eye, the stone pile looks like ready stock for a construction.
Read MoreOver the past few months I’ve been a guest speaker and adviser to senior students in the architecture department. Their thesis project was to develop a program, and design the buildings and grounds for The Water House, a destination spa and environmental education center being built in western Massachusetts. The studio was sponsored by the New England distributor of Marvin windows, A.W. Hastings. Prizes were offered to the top three designs, judged by me and and a dozen other landscape professionals and regional architects.
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