APLD ~ APLD Members ~ Member of the Month

APLD Members ~ Member of the Month

Robert Littlepage
Featured Member, APLD Website, April 2007

The garden was first visited in late 2003 after our client met with us on a design that was then being installed. The yard is on the East side of the home and was the favorite location for relaxing and entertaining guests as it was sheltered from the western sun by the house. The existing garden consisted of 12 inch square stepping stones surrounded by a Bermuda grass infested lawn. The gain in elevation from the existing ground level to the entry threshold was approximately 3 feet. My first view was of a yard under utilized with all of the entry steps constructed in the final few feet of the doorway. A rotting wooden deck directly outside of the entry served as their bar-b-que and sitting area.

My approach was to create a more relaxed walkway into the home, taking advantage of the elevations to bring guests up to the entry gradually rather than all in the last few feet. Consequently our first step was right at the driveway. I designed a five foot wide walk for comfort and 20 feet along placed another step up. By this time we had gained 12 inches and in order to separate the sitting/dining area from the pathway we created a sunken patio with 18 inch high seating walls surrounding it. The sunken patio really only returns us to our starting grade, but gives the impression both physically and mentally of a completely different "room".

A built-in-place recirculating fountain serves as both a visual focal point drawing people down the walkway and as a water feature offering a soft sound to the background.

The paving is a natural stone laid on a concrete footing with colored mortar between stones. The seating walls are of concrete block, plastered and stained to complement the color of the Mariposa Stone paving.

FX Luminaire lighting was used in this design and the arbors were custom designed and built for the project. The landscape was designed and built in 2004 and with some minor changes to plant selections has matured very well over the last 3 years. Aguilar Landscape installed the irrigation, lighting, drainage and plantings, Hector Pinon Landscape installed the concrete, stone and built the fountain. Kurt Clark Concrete and Masonry plastered and stained the seating walls. All of our contractors work and reside near Auburn, Calif. where this project was completed.

About the designer…

21 years in business as Robert Littlepage and Associates Landscape Design, Mr. Littlepage has created gardens for clients throughout the Sacramento region and Salt Lake City, Utah and the San Francisco Bay Area.

He studied garden design in England, attending the Oxford College of Garden Design in 1994 and is a certified designer with the Association of Professional Landscape Designers where he also served as Public Relations Chair. He is past president of the Sacramento District of the APLD.

In addition, he taught landscape design at Sierra College - Rocklin, California and has acted as an educational consultant with the Sacramento Regional Water Authority. He is both founder and director of the California School of Garden Design which offers courses landscape design, construction and professional practice with an office and studio in Newcastle, California. His work has been published in the book Water Works by Maureen Gilmer and Michael Glassman. He is a licensed landscape contractor, #500489, and therefore is able to combine practical construction knowledge with the art of design to create truly individual and innovative gardens. He works with a talented group of associate designers and contractors to achieve a high level of design excellence.

Certified Members seeking to be profiled should send before and after photos with SHORT design intent statement to:

Bethany Dennis
APLD Communications Manager
Email: communications@apld.org
Phone: 717-238-9780

* PHOTOS SHOULD BE CLEAR COLOR PRINTS OR JPEG COMPRESSED FILES