2022 Landscape Design Award: RIOS
Author:Abigail StoneWhen homeowners of a four-acre legacy property in Montecito wanted to update the historic gardens while reducing water consumption, they enlisted renowned multidisciplinary design firm RIOS to spearhead the transformation. Perched on a hilltop overlooking the ocean, the estate showcased a formal garden created by Lockwood de Forest III surrounding a Spanish Colonial Revival home by George Washington Smith.
“The project really proceeded in stages, very organically,” says Elisa Read Pappaterra, RIOS’ horticulture specialist. She’d visit the area every few months to check on its progress and curate the gardens. “Sometimes I’d find something at the nursery, or sometimes they’d say, ‘What about we do something here?’”
Photos by Holly Lepere.
Read let the environment lead her vision while navigating the clients’ requirements—no bees by a new pool, a yoga deck positioned to capture the view and an area that showcased a piece by Argentinian sculptor Adrián Villar Rojas. The resulting design deftly navigates the tensions between whimsical and practical, formal and fanciful, predictable and surprising. “We have a mission statement at RIOS that every place has a story,” she explains. “Collaboration is a big part of what we do. So the garden was about weaving together all these things—the people connected to the site, its history, the natural habitat, the seasons—and interpreting that in a way that is fun and modern.”
