THE GARDENS OF LAURA & ALLEN MCCAIN

The gardens of Laura & Allen McCain are a fresh creation.  With no extant historic landscape plans, designer Holley Camp – a graduate of both UVA and the Historic Landscape Institute – felt her job was not to restore but to dream.  Architect, Chip Gardner conceived the curved driveway and motor court’s footprint.  Laura drew sweeping curved beds, to soften the architecture and give a welcome feel to her home.  Allen, a plantsman, had been employed in his youth as a landscaper.  With this dream team, Holley imagined how Laura & Allen might feel as they moved through their property, the highest point on Red Mountain.  She envisioned a magical garden which would allow intimacy to lead to expanse:  a gradual leading of the eye toward its stunning city view.  She longed to anchor the grand house on its lot, to make every space feel nestled in a garden.  Each window deserved a vista.  Each sight line must have a bloom.  She drew & erased until she found a plan worthy of these homeowners--and of the brilliant craftsmen who brought 2525 Crest Road back to life.

 

Because the 1917 residence is “Italianate-Meets-Arts & Crafts,” says builder David Camp, Holley borrowed elements of great residential gardens she loved touring in England & Italy:  the tapis vert, an allee, the bosco, orchard, lush perennial borders.  A Master Gardener, she translated these elements to our own native plant palette:  Magnolia, Cornus, Cercis, Myrica, Fothergilla, Aesculus, Hydrangea, Vaccinium.  Inspired by a stunningly ecumenical garden/farm in Charlottesville, she wove these natives alongside non-natives, prized for their fragrance, beauty & bloom.  She relaxed into Jefferson’s maxim: “Plant as you would paint.”   The result is a garden of year-round successive flower, scent, color, texture, berries, fruit.  We dream of future generations playing here.