Mittsu was invited to design an outdoor lounge within the walls of a historic stone foundation remaining on an estate in the Beaverkill Valley. Half of the walled enclosure was previously used as a summer cutting garden and the clients wished to re-imagine the space to focus on entertaining and relaxation.

The proposed design opens up the garden by removing a large section of the central foundation wall to create a direct connection between the two garden rooms. Wide stone steps provide an elegant transition between a new bluestone terrace with recessed fire pit and the cutting garden below. The fire pit lounge and surrounding lawn is wrapped with perimeter planting beds featuring a clipped flowering hedge to enhance the existing sense of enclosure provided by the stone walls.

In contrast, the planting beds within the cutting garden embrace a much looser style filled with diverse and colorful flowering perennials. The expanded planting palette adds color and texture for flower arrangements, with an emphasis on early- and late-blooming perennials to extend seasonal interest.