5 Under 40 Awards: Troy Sober

Please meet honoree Troy Sober who will be honored at tomorrow’s celebration at Landry and Arcari Rugs & Carpeting’s Boston showroom.

As a kid, Troy Sober didn’t have a green thumb. He wasn’t into gardening, and time outdoors was spent playing with other kids in the neighborhood. It was inside factors—a love of art as a child, a high-school advanced-physics class—that helped guide Sober down his chosen path as a landscape architect. Combining his affinity for art, math, and science, Sober studied landscape architecture at Pennsylvania State University, and then went to work for Morgan Wheelock before joining Gregory Lombardi Design in 2006.

“In college, I think it was the combination of trying to understand the math and the structural side that kept me interested—the problem-solving,” says Sober. “Our profession is about trying to understand our clients’ goals, life conditions, and the design that we want to leave behind on the landscape. It’s a lot of problem-solving.”

Although his education and his experience at Morgan Wheelock might skew toward the traditional, Sober and his colleagues at Gregory Lombardi Design don’t subscribe to one particular style. “We have a passion for working with our clients to create a landscape that they are going to enjoy and that works within the constraints of the site,” Sober says. “The synergy that clients, architects, interior designers, builders, and landscape architects all bring to a project when they are working toward a common goal results in the most beautiful landscapes.”

Sober primarily creates his beautiful landscapes in New England and New York. “There is a diversity in New England’s style of landscape and houses that allows me to respond differently each time,” he says. “From a personal standpoint, my projects are never stagnant or repetitive, so it keeps things interesting.”

A highlight of the annual “5 Under 40”will be the auctioning of custom hand-woven rugs designed by each of the honorees. Sober’s design was based on a regional favorite—the hydrangea. “Iconic in a New England landscape, hydrangeas are a luxuriant and vibrant plant. Add in the fact that my wife and I selected the Annabelle Hydrangea for our wedding arrangements; it is a perfect inspiration for my carpet.” States Sober when describing his rug design. 

Advance ticket sales are available until 5pm this evening. Tickets may be purchased at the door at the event. Read all the details here.