SITECREATIVE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

I am not the easiest client with which to work. I tend to know what I don't like more than what I like. Stephanie's supurb listening skills, vast knowledge and experience with high end landscape architecture projects gave me a yard that that I love, that is functional, and is the envy of my neighbors! She is an absolute pleasure to work with and I would certainly use her again should I ever need to move from my beautifully landscaped home!

We live on the hill of Chestnut Hill. Our backyard was a semi-steep slope. Over the years we had wanted to create more of usable back yard. We had meetings with several landscape architects and companies. All they suggested was relatively routine lawns and plantings. Nothing they suggested seemed to justify the expense. When we met with Stephanie we shared our dream of a more inspired use of the backyard. Rather than coming up with the usual approaches she worked with us to understand what we wanted and then began the technical task of seeing what was possible. She had the imaginative capacity to see what we desired, the tenacity to take on what others thought was undoable, and the technical capacity to stretch the limits of the site. It took months of thought and analysis but the result was literally the creation of something out of nothing. Let us address a couple of important process issues. We have lots of friends in the architectural world that we asked to stop by and review the plans. Stephanie listened carefully to their suggestions and folded in the ideas that she and we thought had merit. We did not have a relationship with a landscape construction company so we put the work out to bid. Stephanie did an exceptional job of preparing bid documents and then working with the best bidders to flush out issues. We when we decided on the company that we wanted to work with, Stephanie again meticulously reviewed the plans with the company to assure that all the obstacles and technical issues were understood and planned for. During construction she was actively involved in working with the contractor in a cooperative fashion. The site conditions were such that the unexpected had to be expected. Despite the challenges the construction process went much better than we had expected. Changes were limited to improvements we wanted or to conditions that just couldn’t have been foreseen. Cost stayed within the contingency that we would expect. (We have done a lot of home improvement projects.) Because of the technical construction issue the City inspectors were at the site on a very regular basis. The cuts, fills, drainage, fencing, wiring, plumbing, equipment installation, historic district standards, and staircase designs all passed the City’s inspections with very minor adjustments. We now have a pool, hot tub, lawn, fire pit, eating area, sculpture garden, and glass staircase instead of a useless slope. Feel free to come and see it.

We worked with Stephanie and her team to make our small, two level backyard a functional space. Stephanie listened carefully to what was important to us and was able to deliver space that is functional, safe for our kids, and beautiful. SiteCreative also kept a close eye on the landscape construction firm we hired. A very positive experience.

Three people were recommended to me by our architect, and of them we enjoyed meeting with Stephanie the most. She was thoughtful, we liked her prior work, and her proposal was competitive. A year later and we're thrilled with the end result. In particular, the design of the back yard area feels special, the design of the fence feels modern and disappears into the landscape, and a unique ‘step up’ area allowed us to open up the front yard.

Stephanie and her team are a sophisticated and thoughtful group. You can see the craft and precision in her work. Stephanie can think big and small at the same time, and she's a pleasure to collaborate with.