A Contemporary Maine Garden Designed by Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio

For a property on the southern coast of Maine at the convergence of a tidal river and the ocean, Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio used native and other hearty plantings that could withstand salty air and high winds. Selections near a screened porch work to create privacy while highlighting harbor views. Local boulders set throughout the landscape enhance the natural setting.

At the entry, granite pavers, which can be driven on, were laid to complement the house’s geometric cladding, which is stained cedar, lead-coated copper, and stone veneer. Ferns, mosses, juniper, and a Japanese maple add a lush, visual softness to the space. Coe Studios created the lanterns that rest on custom bases.

A view from the magnificent courtyard looks into the same living area with sliding glass walls on either end. “The connection to the garden is very immediate,” says Jana Bryan, senior landscape architect at JMMDS and project lead.

The view from a living area into the courtyard invites the eye to follow a path of river rocks, with contrasting shape and color, to two boulders set with utmost precision as a focal point. The courtyard’s intentional microclimate permits a secure habitat for specimen trees.

A combination of plants, including evergreens, ferns, moss, Enkianthus, and a threadleaf Japanese maple, at the front entry delivers varied texture and a subtly diverse palette; a boulder was delicately set to be welcoming near the front door.

The ipe boardwalk floats just inches above the soil to create long linear paths throughout the property; plants, such as rosa rugosa and lowbush blueberry, add subtle color throughout the seasons.

Minimal custom bronze railings, which complement the home and gardens, lead the transition from house to pool and through the landscape’s many layers.

Working with existing changes in grade, the pool sits higher than the landscape beyond, providing an elevated view of the harbor; local granite coping and ipe decking create the pool’s quiet palette, which is offset by the property’s most colorful gardens, filled with catmint, ferns, viburnum, and lowbush blueberry.

The outdoor shower, custom built from a granite pillar, is an unfussy, practical structure that inhabits a graceful moment at the pool entry.

Landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy talks about boulders the way that jewelers talk about gems. She obsesses over where they are from (preferably local), how they are cut (“never, ever blasted”), and the way they are set into the ground. Each of these details is critical to her vision. So when it came to working on a project on the ragged coast of southern Maine, Messervy found herself happily wedged between a rock and a hard place, so to speak.

The clients were looking to build their dream home on a promontory at the nexus of a tidal river and a harbor. Working from the start alongside since-retired architect Barbara Freeman, Messervy and the clients chose to site the house both to maximize views and blend into the existing ledge-filled topography. The eventual contemporary dwelling—clad in granite, reverse-installed lead-coated copper, and stained cedar—cuts a low profile, floating among a blanket of vegetation.

To achieve such a low-slung presence, Messervy, who is principal of Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio in Bellows Falls, Vermont, first considered stones and trees that would blend seamlessly into the larger landscape. Her plan incorporates massive local-granite boulders that emerge as statuesque compositions throughout the property. Thick granite-plank paths and. stairways also intersect with ipe decking, which gracefully trail through mosses and ferns.

The homeowners were intent on keeping many of the existing large oak and other trees and using mainly native plantings as “a way to honor the character of the site,” says Jana Bryan, senior landscape architect and project lead from JMMDS. They were also inspired by japanesque style, which suited Messervy’s approach: she’d previously studied in Kyoto with a master of garden design.

That sensibility is expressed in a stunning courtyard with views across the property. The contemplative space also creates a protective microclimate perfect for specimen trees including an American persimmon, fullmoon maple, and katsura. The area is punctuated by two enormous granite slabs, carefully posed as a focal point. In an artful stroke, Messervy chose to lay one flat.

“We selected boulders throughout that looked like they’d always been there,” says landscape contractor Tom Dunn, owner of Stoney Brook Landscaping & Masonry. Many, including those in the courtyard, came from his nearby farm, others from a local quarry. Placing the boulders with painstaking precision helps them appear to emerge naturally from the ground. How much stone to show, how much to bury, and at which angle they face is an art of extreme exaction the design team was happy to indulge.

To soften the cragginess of such hardscaping, Messervy chose a blanket of low-growing perennials, ferns, and mosses, all able to withstand salty air or soil. Few ornamentals were selected, and the limited spring and summer bloomers are mostly white, creating what Bryan calls “a very subtle palette.”

Come fall, however, hues throughout begin to shift, eliciting the magic of New England’s autumnal pleasures, until winter reveals the distinct and beautiful bones of the landscape—its trees and boulders. It’s a delicate yet purposeful approach, with the will of the designers holding hands with Mother Nature. “We’re always trying for a joyful process,” says Messervy of her method. “And this was that.”

Project Team
Landscape design: Julie Moir Messervy, Jana Bryan, Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio
Architecture: Barbara Freeman
Builder: Patrick Gagne, Wright-Ryan Construction