Ellisville Poolside Terrace
A Natural Stone Landscape Built From a Bare Sand Lot
Landscape Design & Build | Natural Stone Hardscaping | Pool Surround & Entertaining Space | Boulder & Retaining Walls | Plantings | Drainage & Erosion Control
Setting: New construction on a sandy lot, Ellisville, Plymouth, MA
The Goal, and What the Site Required
These homeowners were building in Ellisville and wanted the landscape planned alongside the house rather than added once construction wrapped. Greener Horizon installed the project with the builder and designed the space one-on-one with the homeowners.
What they wanted was clear. A swimming pool space. Additional entertaining space on the back side of the house. And a natural, earthy feel carried through the whole property.
What the site offered was less generous. The property was essentially a sand lot. Topsoil, plant material, and hardscape materials all had to be imported before anything could be built. The house sits on the highest point of the property, which made drainage a primary concern and put the downhill areas at risk of erosion. Elevation changes across the site had to be resolved before the finished spaces could land where the homeowners pictured them.
The Approach
The design centers on the back side of the house, where the pool space and the entertaining areas work together as one connected landscape instead of separate installations.
Natural stone sets the tone.
The homeowners asked for something earthy, so the material palette leans on natural stone throughout. Granite and native boulder stone form the walls. Cobblestone lines the walkways and the pool area, defining edges and keeping transitions clean between spaces.
A porcelain surface that complements the stone.
A travertine porcelain tile was selected for the main surfaces. It gives the space a refined finish that works alongside the natural stone rather than competing with it.
Grade and drainage solved first.
With the house at the high point of the property, water management shaped much of the plan. Our team developed alternative approaches to direct water where it needed to go and limit erosion across the sloped areas, so the finished landscape holds its shape through New England weather.
A landscape established from nothing.
Topsoil was imported to build a growing medium where there had been only sand. Plant material and hardscape materials followed. Every element of this landscape was brought in and established from scratch.
The Details That Tie ItTogether
One Material Language
Granite, native boulder stone, cobblestone, and travertine porcelain carry across the walls, walkways, and pool area so the property reads as one project.
Elevation Handled with Stone
Boulder and granite walls resolve the grade changes across the site while adding structure the design builds around.
Built Alongside the Builder
Coordinating with the home builder kept the landscape and the house on the same schedule and the same vision.
Erosion Control Designed In, Not Added On
Drainage and erosion mitigation were addressed as part of the plan rather than corrected later.
The Result
A property that started as a sand lot is now a finished landscape built around how the homeowners wanted to use it.
The pool space and the entertaining areas behind the house connect naturally, the stonework gives the property the earthy character they asked for, and the grading and drainage work protects all of it.
Every project we take on is custom, from design and implementation through production, maintenance, and aftercare. We provide all of those services in house, which means these homeowners have one partner and one long-term relationship from day one.
Picture Something Like This?
If you have a property with real potential and want a partner who can guide you from the first design conversation to the final planting, we'd love to hear what you're imagining.
Serving Middleborough, Plymouth, Kingston, Duxbury, Hanover,
Norwell, Pembroke, Bridgewater, and Surrounding Areas