Rain Gardens Nourish The Land Around This Striking Home

2024 Best of Year Winner for Residential Landscape

Just a mile or so from the Atlantic Ocean and sited in a low-lying flood zone adjacent to a picturesque farm field, this just over 1-acre property in Sagaponack, New York, by LaGuardia Design Group is part sponge, part residence of the future. FEMA necessitated the house stand some 10 feet above-grade; terraced steps and decking (complete with a built-in fire table) bring it down to earth. As for that earth, it’s nourished by flowering rain gardens that slow stormwater, capture site runoff, and attract pollinators with year-round plantings, while cutting gardens in raised steel boxes attract the eye. The design of the infinity-edge pool ensures it won’t flood; all the greenery helps to ensure the land won’t, either.

PROJECT TEAM: CHRISTOPHER LAGUARDIA; DANIEL THORP; SARAH DEGRAY.