2020 Garden Dialogues Season Kicks Off with Six Extraordinary Tours over Three Days in Bird Key, Sarasota and Wellington, Florida

Media Contact: Nord Wennerstrom | T: 202.483.0553  | M: 202.225.7076 | E: nord@tclf.org

Exclusive tours of exceptional works of private residential landscape architecture March 7, 28 & 29

Washington, D.C. (February 20, 2020) – The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) today announced that the 2020 season of Garden Dialogues will kick off with six exclusive tours over three days – March 7, 28 and 29, 2020 – in Bird Key, Sarasota and Wellington (near West Palm Beach), Florida. Garden Dialogues is a national program inaugurated in 2012 by TCLF that offers exclusive access to some of today’s most beautiful and innovative gardens. Each of the Garden Dialogues is limited to approximately 30 people, to keep them intimate, and lasts 90-120 minutes, to allow adequate time to luxuriate in the site. 

Proceeds from Garden Dialogues benefit TCLF’s educational initiatives and are tax deductible to the extent allowed. Tickets range $55-150. Space is extremely limited. Register here. LA CES™ professional development hours will be available to attendees. Florida DBPR Landscape Architects CE hours will be available to attendees, pending approval. 

March 7 | Deeridge Farms South, Wellington, FL | 10:30 am - 1:30 pm

Note: This event includes lunch.

Deeridge Farms South, a 250-acre equestrian estate in Wellington, Florida, is the winter residence of Margaret and Jeremy Jacobs. The grounds incorporate similar characteristics of those enjoyed at their home in East Aurora, New York, where, for half the year, the couple resides on the late-1920s-designed woodland preserve created by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. Over the past four decades, the Jacobs have developed the West Palm Beach estate with the goal to implement Olmsted's design principles for elegantly orchestrated, naturalized landscapes. Since 2012, O'Leary Richards Design Associates has overseen the implementation of a myriad of landscape architecture projects, ranging in scale from an intimate, Asian-inspired courtyard to extensive renovations of the main entrance driveway, residential greens, jungle paths, and native palm walks.

March 28 | Urban Modern Retreat, Sarasota, FL | 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

This project was an evolving collaboration among landscape architect Michael A. Gilkey, Jr., and the architect, builder, and the client. The result is a seamless interplay between the architecture and the garden that offers the homeowners a one-of-a-kind urban retreat. The house was designed to preserve an old-growth banyan tree and opens into a courtyard centered around a preserved grand live oak. These irreplaceable tree canopies afford privacy from the adjacent busy suburban street. Inside the home, expansive views to the backyard beckon. A curvilinear sculpture garden contrasts with the home's strong architectural lines, which are echoed by the pool and guest house. A bold spine of sea grape abuts the pool, creating privacy and a soft backdrop for the surrounding decks. A kinetic sculpture anchors the axis between the two structures. Meandering paths lead to an event lawn, a pollination garden, a bird garden designed around a preserved lychee tree, and, finally, through a canopy of color to the bocce court. A whimsical sculpture punctuates this interconnected space.

March 29 – Three Projects designed by DWY Landscape Architecture

Citrus Avenue Residence - Sarasota, FL | 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM

Grounded in the Modernist tenets of the Sarasota School of Architecture, with its use of open floor plans and large panes of glass, the Citrus Avenue Residence manifests the idea of a clear geometry floating above the Florida landscape. The landscape is then experienced from each interior space, providing uninterrupted connection to the environment and daylight. In addition to providing a natural oasis in a downtown neighborhood, the site needed to facilitate the homeowners’ active lifestyles. The programming includes a lap pool, a meditation garden, and clear pedestrian circulation that lets the owners and neighbors interact in a meaningful way.

South Warbler Lane Residence - Bird Key, FL - 11:30 AM - 1:00 pm

At the South Warbler Residence, DWY Landscape Architecture had the opportunity to work with the clients during both phases of a major architectural renovation. The seasonal homeowners desired to experience the outdoors and the natural amenity of the ocean front property as part of their daily routine. The landscape features a lap pool; a pergola surrounded by a water garden; an intimate sculpture garden; and an entry garden sequence that addresses the interior experience as well as the exterior. Ribbons of grass run through the motor court and transition into runnels that frame the water garden. At the front entry, a pergola casts shadows on a minimalist green wall, while channels of Mexican beach pebble frame the hardscape, and a tectonic sculpture plays off the architectural forms and the colors of the landscape.

Mourning Dove Drive Residence - Bird Key, FL - 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM

The initial landscape design at the Mourning Dove Residence was completed more than a decade ago. When new owners purchased the house, DWY Landscape Architecture was brought in to update the hardscape and landscape and implement some of the design elements that were cut from the original installation due to budgeting, including a square reflecting pool in the front courtyard. In addition, the entry drive and pool deck were modified and re-finished with a porcelain paver, a sunken seating area was built at the south end of the pool, and mature royal palms were brought in to replace the original bismarckias, which had suffered decline from weevil infestation.

Garden Dialogues in Florida are made possible by Lead Sponsor, Vermont Quarries, Presenting Sponsors, ABC Stone and Bartlett Tree Experts, and Educational Partners, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and ASLA Florida.

About The Cultural Landscape Foundation

The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1998 to connect people to places. TCLF educates and engages the public to make our shared landscape heritage more visible, identify its value, and empower its stewards. Through its website, publishing, lectures, and other events, TCLF broadens support and understanding for cultural landscapes. TCLF is also home to the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize.

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