Showcase Feature
Note: This hillside garden is accessed via stairs that do not have rail. The steps are slightly higher than standard. This garden is steep, and it is not for those with balance issues.

When the house was purchased the large, steep front garden consisted of lawn and non-native ornamentals. Cyrelle, who grew up in an area surrounded by native plants, envisioned something, well…spectacular. With design help from Orca Landscapes and installation by Rock and Rose Landscapes, she got it.

Large boulders, custom-milled eucalyptus steps, dry stacked retaining walls, and a travertine dining table overlooking the garden are the perfect accompaniments to the delightful combination of plants that cascade down the slope. Passers-by are welcome to take a seat on the bench at the base of the garden and enjoy this peaceful oasis.

A heady blend of coffeeberry, Carpenteria, pink flowering currant, and fuchsia create a welcoming vibe along the stairway, and a welcoming array of sages, buckwheat, coffeeberry, ferns and more border the driveway. Between them are a cheerful medley of buckwheat (California, rosy, naked, Conejo, St. Catherine’s, and coastal); sages (white, Cleveland, and ‘Bee’s Bliss’); and California lilac (‘Dark Star’, ‘Ray Hartman’, and ‘Concha’). Low-growing manzanitas and aromatic sages spill over the retaining walls, folding into each other in a pleasing manner, while also functioning as great weed barriers.

Other Garden Attractions
• Decomposed granite paths, pebble landings, and mulch add to the natural feel of this beautiful garden.

Gardening for Wildlife
Birds flock to the coast live oak. Hummingbirds, bumble and carpenter bees, monarch butterflies and their caterpillars, and damsel and dragonflies frequent the garden. Salamanders sleep away the days in cool, shady places.

Narrow leaf milkweed brings in monarchs—this is the only plant these butterflies can lay their eggs on—and Dutchman’s pipevine was planted for the pipevine swallowtail butterfly, as that is the only plant it can lay eggs on.

Keystone species (watch this talk by Doug Tallamy!)
Keystone species—our own, local ecological powerhouse plants— in this garden include coast live oak, pink flowering currant, California lilac, manzanita, mountain mahogany, dogwood, sage, goldenrod, elderberry, lupine, buckwheat, native sunflower and penstemon.

Green Home Features
This home has solar panels.

At least partially wheelchair accessible? No.