The Sycamore

There is a sycamore in the backyard of this Encinitas home that the design was built around — not just practically, but philosophically. Its canopy shades the gravel garden. A rope swing hangs from its oldest limb. Stone pendants glow amber in its branches at night. The tree was already there. The design listened to it.

What followed is a landscape defined by abundance and intention in equal measure. Curved white plaster walls sweep through the property in soft arcs, creating rooms within the garden without closing any of them off. Limestone stairs — each tread lit from below with warm amber step lights — connect the deck level to the upper garden, where the planting takes over completely. Jasmine in full bloom, ornamental grasses catching the afternoon breeze, lavender, rosemary, white flowering shrubs, and a gravel path that moves through it all without hurry.

At the garden’s center, an antique stone trough fountain with paired arched iron spouts provides the one sound that ties everything together. It sits within the planting as if it has been there for decades. It may as well have been.

The outdoor kitchen was designed for people who actually cook — cedar cabinetry with brass pulls, a built-in grill alongside a Kamado ceramic smoker, and a long communal table shaded by the pergola. Steps away, raised cedar beds overflow with herbs and vegetables, with a harvest basket already on the counter. Cedar hot tub and cold plunge are tucked into the back corner behind lush screening, private without being hidden.

The lighting reads the garden the way good lighting should — not announcing itself, but making everything worth staying for after dark. Stone pendant fixtures in the sycamore canopy. Recessed amber step lights on every riser. A small path light bent into the ornamental grasses, barely visible until you’re looking for it.

This is a garden built for a family that lives fully outdoors — that grows its own food, entertains without pretense, and wants their children to have somewhere to disappear into on a summer afternoon. Every decision in this design served that.