Looking to build their forever home, the clients purchased a 2.4-acre parcel bordered by a wall of white pines that separates the site from the dense forest beyond. Our team at Crowley Cottrell worked in tandem with the architect to site this modern farmhouse in a manner that maximizes privacy and long views into the woods. Guided by the clients’ wishes to support ecological diversity and create habitat, we designed a plan that grounds the house in rolling meadows while reforesting the perimeter, thus blurring the boundaries between their land and the forest beyond. Sunny perennial gardens create a welcoming entry on the east and south; a woodland garden transitions to mixed deciduous forest on the north while lush native planting surrounds a terrace on the west. Beyond the southern terrace and lawn, granite and flagstone steps descend a blueberry-filled embankment to a play lawn, encircled by meadow and the wooded valley beyond.