The 1977 John Walling design references a few different styles of modernism but especially exhibits noted Japanophile Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie style: emphatically horizontal with flat cantilevered roofs and an intimate relationship to the environment. The couple worked with architect Lance O’Donnell, principal of o2 Architecture, to configure the garden as a natural extension of the home. “The mountains heighten the experience of being in our garden,” Hart says. The couple’s private oasis - made for tranquil pleasures like meditative lap swimming, sipping sencha inside the modern tea pavilion, or simply listening to the rustling fan palms - is cocooned by the broad-shouldered mounts, which also lend their earthy color palette and craggy texture to the surprisingly verdant tableau of desert plants, curated by Hart and local landscape designer Carlos Flores. Just as Tenryū-ji’s garden achieves depth by incorporating views of the surrounding mountains, so too does the residential landscape elegantly adopt the magnificence of the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa ranges to amplify its own beauty. “The sensitivities of Japanese culture and aesthetic resonate with me.”
#Japan scenery gate full
“We live in one of the only enclaves in Palm Springs with 360-degree views of mountains,” explains Hart, a Minnesota native and former resident of Japan who now leads luxurious custom tours of the country’s landmark gardens, including the one at Kyoto’s Tenryū-ji, a Zen Buddhism temple where shakkei is in full effect. Though this proverb-by-numbers attempt is puttering at best, our well-intentioned quill does capture one of the garden’s main motivations: the Japanese concept o f “borrowed scenery,” or shakkei. So, here’s our stab at an axiom worthy of the philosophic plot, where East Asia meets the desert of the American West: “Bask in the majesty of mountains and never regret your journey.” If ever a landscape inspired a proverb, the Japanese-style garden at Thomas Ford and Michael Hart’s Andreas Hills home in Palm Springs would be one to invoke the almighty pen.
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