Gregory Lombardi Design

Gregory Lombardi Design is a Cambridge-based landscape architecture practice that has spent more than three decades getting written up in shelter magazines rather than chasing retail reviews — Boston Magazine, Cottages & Gardens, and half a dozen regional design outlets have profiled its work since at least 2015, consistently describing a narrative, site-specific approach: reading a property's history and natural materials before drawing a plan. The company, founded by Gregory Lombardi in 1991, now runs 14 employees across two Massachusetts locations and also does business as Parterre Gardening Service. That editorial reputation is echoed, though thinly, in the reviews actually on file. A 2013 endorsement from an interior design firm calls the work thoughtful and forward-thinking across several large-scale Greater Boston properties, and a 2018 homeowner review describes creative ideas that surpassed expectations on their finished landscape. The projects themselves, per press coverage, run large: a pool built into existing ledge, roof terraces, gates and fences, outdoor fireplaces, and hardscapes designed to work with a house's architecture rather than around it. One thing worth raising directly before signing: a 2017 Houzz review from a different client describes a project that ran behind schedule and over budget, ending in a dispute serious enough to involve lawyers and the threat of arbitration before it was settled by paying the outstanding bills. With only three reviews on file, that account carries real weight. BuildZoom also lists a Massachusetts landscape architect license under Gregory D. Lombardi's name, though BuildZoom itself flags it as unverified, and the one permit on file under that name is for an unrelated chimney repair rather than landscape work. For a large-scale, design-forward outdoor project, this is a firm with the press credentials and design range to match. Given the one serious dispute on record, get the schedule and budget terms specific in writing before signing.