Lake Oswego Estate Landscape Designed By Lynn Wolfstone

by Ben Bowen

The project:

The best landscape project we have ever been a part of? Quite possibly. This project has now been the subject of a profile by Portrait Magazine.

Starting in fall of 2018, running though most of 2019, we were part of a team that transformed a sloping double lot on the lake in Lake Oswego, OR into one of the area’s most ambitious private gardens. (Progress pictures in an earlier post here.)

This garden features bluestone stairways consisting of over 75 custom cut slabs, leading to formal dimensional bluestone gathering space, and mica slate secondary gathering spaces. At the bottom of the slope, on the lake, is more bluestone, stone walls and benches, gorgeous decking, and a new boathouse.

But the real star is the massive water feature. It has several pools, over 50 feet of stream with 20 feet of drop. When you add in the smaller water feature near one of the less formal patios a total of almost 15,000 gallons of water per hour cascades down the hill.

The garden is the result of a team effort- involving contractors, architects, landscape designers, and craftsmen. For the size of the project it was very smooth- not just one of the largest, but also one of the most fun.



The Team:

  • Lynn Wolfstone was the primary landscape designer. She did the base design, hardscape design, and all the planting. Lynn, along with Kira Iwasaki, is a true pro, and one of my favorite landscape designers to work with. Here are some great pictures of the project from her portfolio.

  • Sadafumi Uchiyama designed the water features and some of the hardscape as well.

  • Ross NW Watergardens installed all the landscape elements, including the water features, stone masonry, irrigation, lighting, planting, and more. Every member of our team, plus a number of subs, spent time on this project.

  • MCM Construction was the GC on this project. Tim, Gino, and the Jasons were great to work with. If you have a home remodeling project in Lake Oswego, especially a complicated one, I would contact them.

  • The homeowners were a huge part of this project, letting us work with just the right amount of input and leeway. They were truly a joy to work for.

flagstone patio
aerial view
koi pond bridge
landscape installation