Highland Park
Landscape design, pool design, and outdoor living in Highland Park.
Highland Park is its own town. It's incorporated, has its own school district, town code, and architectural review process. You've got to understand both the written rules and the unwritten ones. Respect the architectural fabric. Lots are smaller than Preston Hollow. Review is more rigorous. The design quality bar is higher.
What's specific to Highland Park
Architectural review. The town requires review for any structural addition, which includes pool decks, pavilions, walls, and significant hardscape. The process is meaningful. A wrong package wastes weeks of your time. We've worked enough Highland Park projects since the early 2000s to know what passes.
Lot size. Most Highland Park lots run quarter-acre to half-acre in size. This fundamentally changes pool placement options. The estate pools you'd build in Preston Hollow rarely fit here. A courtyard pool, plunge pool, or thoughtfully scaled main pool works much better. Nothing that overwhelms the lot.
Architecture. Mediterranean, Tudor, English Cotswold, Georgian, French eclectic. The town leans pretty traditional in its tastes. Landscape vocabulary is more constrained because of that. Modern work exists but often doesn't read well with the neighborhood aesthetic.
Trees. This neighborhood has the densest mature canopy in Dallas. The same protection rules apply. We design around the trees that truly matter, not through them.
Setbacks and easements. Highland Park enforces these quite tightly. Pool placement, pavilion siting, and hardscape edges all get checked at survey. We work to setbacks before we even start drawing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of landscape design suits a Highland Park home?
Start with the architecture. Traditional homes tend to want clear geometry and structured planting, modern homes simpler massing and cleaner materials. Restraint reads as expensive here. Volume does not.
How do we update the front yard without losing its character?
Improve the structure rather than making a dramatic change. Refine the entry walk, simplify the planting, preserve the important trees, upgrade edging and materials, and strengthen how the house meets the street.
Can the back yard be more relaxed than the front?
Yes, and the best properties here do exactly that. A composed, architectural front and a more personal rear garden with a pool, terrace, kitchen, or informal planting.
How much do the mature trees drive the plan?
A great deal. They set views, shade, circulation, planting choices, and where new construction is even appropriate. In this town the canopy is part of the property's value.
What materials work well in Highland Park?
Natural stone, brick, well-detailed concrete, gravel, and metal all work. The palette should take its cue from the house, and it should be short. Competing finishes are the most common mistake.
Can you handle a full exterior transformation?
Yes. Design, planting, pools and water features, patios, retaining walls, fencing, and outdoor living developed as one property-wide plan.
Get in Touch
We look forward to discussing the design and build of a project in Highland Park. Call (972) 380-1659 or send a note below and we'll reply within one business day.
50+ years combined experience · In-house crew with a trusted trade network