Cottage Industry Beach Garden
Designed & Built by Gravel To Gold, Inc.
2023 San Diego Horticultural Society Spring Garden Tour - Pacific Beach to Solana Beach
in collaboration with APLD San Diego District
Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA
Saturday, March 25, 2023 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
in collaboration with APLD San Diego District
Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA
Saturday, March 25, 2023 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Design Brief
Located only a few short blocks from the famous Law Street Beach, this 1946 beach cottage sits on a prominent Pacific Beach corner. The charming house and garden is the private home of Anne-Émilie and Steve Gold, owners of Gravel To Gold, Inc. a landscape design and construction company.
The landscape and hardscape designs are a perfect blend of modern vibes and eco-friendly elements maintaining the vintage cottage character of the home. Colors were carefully chosen to complement the teal blue house with a dark red Dutch door, copper gutters and downspouts. Lovely plantings greet guests in the front yard and the wide parkways. The palette consists mainly of succulents and low water plants tolerant of clay soils, typical of the neighborhood. Retaining walls elevate the yard from the street and create a family-style place for visiting with neighbors of all ages. A sand and gravel pit that doubles as a bioswale, a modern Loll Designs playhouse, a free standing steel chimenea for roasting marshmallows, log rounds and sitting boulders, make the front yard fun and inviting. |
Eco-friendly elements include a low water turf replacement ground cover called Kurapia, which requires very infrequent watering, and no regular mowing unless a tight and tidy look is preferred. It is non-invasive and tolerates all soil types. Also installed is a drip irrigation system with a Hunter Hydrawise Wi-Fi smart controller that uses 60% less water than traditional sprinkler systems. The side yard features rain barrels for water storage that overflow to the bioswale on the upper terrace keeping water onsite, and preventing roof water running off directly to Law Street Beach.
The backyard garden makes excellent use of every available space. It has a pergola, outdoor kitchen, custom wood gate, and multiple seating areas. A powerful outdoor gas heater, and a stylish Galanter & Jones heated concrete bench make the spaces comfortable at any time of day or night. It also showcases the creative use of a shipping container converted into a studio office. The container office is protected from afternoon sun by a custom built steel and reclaimed redwood shade pergola and a redwood deck. Behind it stands a mini orchard that includes Baers lime, Key lime, Pink Lemonade lemon, Eureka lemon, Navel orange, Mandarin orange, and Macadamia nut trees. The expanded hardscape enhanced with potted plants and a planter for a beloved apple tree creates a flexible living area featuring an outdoor bath and shower, and Loll Designs Lollygagger Chaise lounges. It doubles as an electric vehicle parking and charging station with direct access to the alley. Custom iron gates and hand railing, low voltage lighting and Nest cameras enhance security. A Redwood shade pergola over two Loll Designs Lollygagger Adirondack chairs shade the living room and make the original front porch attractive and livable. |
Photo Gallery
Before Photos
Construction Photos
Container Office Photos (the "Montainer")
Plant List
Click on any of the images below to activate the interactive plant presentation:
Thank you!
To Angela, Anna, Bryan, Clayton, Dave, Elias, Elizabeth, Espen, Francine, Gerry, Gilbert, Gisèle, Grace, Jesse, Jim, Karen, Karon, Lee, Linda, Lisa, Mario, Marlene, Moises, Regina, Santos, Scott, Taylor, Théodore, Trish, Victor: a big thank you to YOU, our collaborators, our hard working construction crew, the San Diego Horticultural Society and the Association of Professional Landscape Designers organizers and volunteers, and to all of those who visited our garden!