A Really Big Water Feature-Garden Conservancy Open day Visit

  The Pacific is the focal point of this garden sited on a bluff above the ocean on the Mendocino coast of  Northern California. Unfortunately there's not much I can tell you about the gardens' history or ownership-the Garden Conservancy website takes down the information on gardens whose open day has passed , and there is no longer a guide book to refer back to. I can conjecture that this is probably not a full time residence, that the owners are not gardeners , and that funding is not an issue.

 I believe that this is the guest house..the slope here is planted with grasses , heaths, cistus and others that tolerate the proximity to the tumultuous north coast. Though typically frost -free the wind ,damp, fog and robust winter storms are the challenge here.

The tether-ball and basket ball courts are in the midst of a clever Podocarpus and Dodonea maze.

 The maze viewed from a distance.

 

The deck of the guest house looks over a circular lawn to the Pacific beyond. Because of the site of this garden I expect this lawn uses much less water than one even 10 miles east would. There is no city water in this remote area , thus the irrigation is from well-water. Average rainfall for Mendocino is 51 inches, and like the rest of California, they are under average year to date. Summers on the coast are usually cool, foggy and damp-in spite of the sunny blue sky you see here.

The bocce court...

View from the bocce court. Notice the deer fence .No shortage of those critters on this coast. This entire property is discretely fenced .

A white garden had recently (very recently-this week perhaps ?) been installed at the base of this heart sculpture.It will be a nice feature once it fills in.

Up the path we go to the spa building , Rhododendrons bloom in the distance.

 To the left and up the circular patio is the spa-the main house windows are seen on the right.

 How about an outdoor kitchen ?  Note the large heaters suspended from above--warm evenings are an unknown here, so the comfort of the guests has been considered.

The view from the outdoor kitchen..

And in another thoughtful gesture, the guests that draw the non-view seats with their backs to the sea can observe the reflection in a very large mirror mounted above the counter-

 

View from the deck of the main house...

I conjecture that when the tide is out, the lock down on this stairway disengages for the climb down to the cove.

Mighty fancy wood-shed !

Time  to move on-the northcoast vernacular lamp post leads the way.