Twin Ponds

Pomfret, VT

Recipient of the 2012 Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association “Large Scale Residential Design” Honor Award

Set comfortably into the surrounding rolling agricultural fields and wooded hills, this 1870 residence with new addition is elegantly sited along a quiet country road with spectacular views to the south and west. JRLA’s deliberate use of local stone and native plants in the design further integrates the architecture with the rural landscape.

The front of the house is framed and separated from the road by four mature sugar maples. A simple linear planting of lily-of-the-valley along the façade grounds the structure without obscuring the beautiful stone foundation or diminishing the stately elegance of the large maples.

Cut field stone walkways break the line of the architecture along the north and east side of the house and extend visually to the horizon, connecting the user with the surrounding landscape. The great room, kitchen, and dining room access a large, stone terrace and courtyard along the rear of the property. To the west, making use of a subtle grade change and plantings, an intimate sunken stone terrace overlooks the lower twin ponds and provides sunset views across the field.

The swimming pool is sited below a formed knoll at the southwest corner of the site, away from the primary view shed of the house and terraces. Surrounded by a spacious cut bluestone terrace, the pool is bordered by a cabana, vine-covered wooden pergola, and a blueberry hedge.