Residential Landscape Architecture

Landscape architecture's about organizing the land around your home with real intention. We're thinking about how people'll actually move through the space, how grade and drainage need to work, sight lines, and the trees you've already got. Soil, plantings, hardscape, and lighting all factor in. That's what makes a real difference. The goal's an outdoor space that feels as considered as your house itself. Not just "landscaped." A genuine extension of home.

How we approach it

We start on your property and walk it ourselves. We talk with your family about how you're using the space right now and how you'd want to use it in five years. We're looking at the home's architecture, studying the views that matter most, identifying heritage trees worth keeping, and finding the problem spots that need addressing in the landscape. Then we sketch it out, usually hand-drawn at first, refine it through discussions with you, and then the master plan emerges from that process of refinement and collaboration. That'll guide every design decision ahead.

This plan becomes the reference for absolutely everything: where the pool's going to sit, how the motor court'll read, the line a retaining wall's got to take, and where lighting fixtures belong. Plant locations and timing get locked in. Once you've approved it, we're moving into construction documentation with hardscape details, planting schedules, irrigation and lighting plans, drainage and grading specs. Our crew builds it. It's the same team, same drawings. Nobody's second-guessing the design or making changes that weren't approved.

When this works best

Master planning really pays off on certain properties. You've got a large lot, or you're dealing with tricky topography that includes slope, mature canopy, and elevation changes. Maybe it's a renovation needing careful integration with existing conditions, or it's a new pool paired with substantial grading and circulation work. Smaller, simpler properties don't always need this level of planning. A focused pool or garden project'll get there faster and won't cost as much.

Our team and process

Mike and David's experience in outdoor development goes back to the early 1980s, and between them they've designed and built some of the most distinctive properties in Dallas, from Preston Hollow and Highland Park to Westlake and Southlake. The way we actually work matters as much as the drawings. Every project is different, so our process lets us assemble the right team of trusted contractors alongside our own highly skilled internal crews, matched to the client's needs and budget and to the opportunities and constraints of the property. Those relationships with our trade partners have been refined over decades of working together. We carry the work from conceptual design through construction documents where they're needed, permits, inspections, and the final completion of the vision. The master plan integrates pools, hardscape, gardens, outdoor living, and landscape lighting into one coherent plan, so every element supports the others whether the work happens all at once or in phases.

Work we've done

French formal estates in Preston Hollow since the early 2000s. Modern Hill Country design at Westlake properties. Motor court and pool integration on a Bluffview rebuild. Spanish Colonial gardens in north Dallas. Every one started with a master plan. Every one built to that drawing.