A winding pathway through a lush green park with tall trees and a house in the background.
A peaceful park with a curving gravel pathway, surrounded by green grass, trees, and ornamental grasses.
A modern house surrounded by lush trees and greenery, with a manicured lawn and a gravel pathway, under a clear blue sky.
A house surrounded by tall trees and lush green grass on a sunny day.
Lush green garden with trees, bushes, and ornamental grasses in front of a house with a covered porch. A visible body of water in the background.
Modern covered patio area with tiled flooring, supported by concrete columns, overlooking a landscaped garden with lush greenery and two white chairs outdoor seating.
Indoor swimming pool with large glass windows overlooking a garden with trees and bushes.
Modern house with large glass windows, surrounded by lush green trees and plants, with two white chairs with wooden legs placed on a concrete patio.
A coastal landscape with green shrubs and trees, a wooden bridge over water, and a large body of water with land in the distance under a clear blue sky.
A wooden boardwalk leading to a modern house on a hillside surrounded by trees, overlooking a water body during dusk.

This eight-acre property overlooking Peconic Bay celebrates the creative reuse of its existing landscape. When the clients replaced a century-old home with a new residence, LaGuardia Design Group chose not to start from scratch. Instead, the team preserved and relocated the property’s mature cedar trees—its namesake feature—to form a new cedar forest along the entry drive. Beneath these trees, a native woodland meadow of tufted hairgrass softens the approach and connects the drive to the surrounding bluff.

Closer to the house, the landscape transitions into a more refined garden. Massed American boxwood and holly osmanthus frame the home, shaded by mature tupelos and existing oaks. A soft ground layer of Pennsylvania sedge and fountain grass creates a natural yet elegant foreground. On the east side, a small, Zen-inspired garden centers on a sculptural Japanese maple, while the west side opens to a stone terrace with lush plantings of magnolia, snowbell, and fothergilla.

Beyond the terrace, an open lawn extends toward the bay, where a dining area is nestled among additional cedars and native grasses such as little bluestem and switchgrass. These carefully placed trees frame views of the water and create a savanna-like setting that blends seamlessly into a naturalized buffer of beach plum and bayberry along the bluff. The result is a landscape that balances structure and softness—rooted in the site’s history yet reimagined for contemporary coastal living.


PROJECT TEAM | Merrell Soule Architects - Orsman Design - Aran Construction - Renner Landscaping