English Garden Inspiration

In what was an old Columbus schoolyard, Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects introduce a profusion of color and pattern.

- 

NOT SO LONG AGO, this vision of beauty was a concrete parking lot, as undistinguished as it could be, in a historic section of Columbus, Ohio. Today, the space is the polar opposite of that parking lot: It has become a spectacular design teeming with lush flowers that trail among an eye-pleasing pattern of symmetrical lines and natural, free-flowing shapes.

The work is a testament to what can happen when landscape architects and property owners work creatively in an exploration of adaptive reuse principles for urban homes. Douglas Hoerr, a landscape architect and co-founder of the firm Hoerr Schaudt in Chicago, headed up the transformation. "I wanted to create a viewing garden that delighted the family in all four seasons," Hoerr says.

The history here is impressive. The house and garden, privately owned, are in German Village, a historic neighborhood just south of downtown Columbus. It was developed primarily between 1840 and 1914.