THE ALAMEDA

BERKELEY, CA

2021

The first or maybe second time we met, the client handed me one of his books: a collection of satirical inventions, poking fun at the human impulse to overthink everything. It’s still the best client gift I’ve ever received. Naturally, when it came time to redesign his front yard, his only real request was that it not look too nice. You can’t make this kind of thing up.

And yes, that proved to be the hardest part.

The home, a beautifully restored Craftsman, came with a tangled front yard full of vines, weeds, and missed potential. Once we cleared the chaos, we found a small, serene pocket of space begging to be in conversation with the freshly built porch and its handcrafted arbor. From there, the battle against “too nice” began.

We kept things simple: a few California natives, some scrappy succulents, a couple of boulders strategically placed to look a little haphazard, and one unfortunately well-behaved Howard McMinn manzanita. Bougainvillea and clematis climb the trellis in something like slow-motion anarchy.

Despite our best efforts to keep things modest and slightly rough around the edges, the final result... well, it looks pretty good. Too good, according to the client. His reaction was half horror, half dry comedic timing: we had accidentally delivered beauty.

And honestly? We regret nothing.