Garden

Firepit and wire fox terrier with hardscape and landscape to exterior dining terrace at raised deck beyond

Overall, the plant wall covers over 1,200 square feet of surface area.

The property is divided into zones, including a shade garden with a meandering path of staggered concrete pavers flanked by bamboo. As this area is sloped, the designers created a swale effect with permeable river rocks on one side.

Board-formed concrete retaining walls double as ramps from the deck to the garden’s highest point.

A small terrace outfitted with an H55 easy chair by Björn Hultén offers a view of the San Francisco Bay.

A maple tree grows through an ipe deck in this garden that Mary Barensfeld designed for a family in Berkeley, California. A reflecting pool separates it from a granite patio, which is furnished with a Petal dining table by Richard Schultz and chairs by Mario Bellini. The 1,150-square-foot garden serves as an elegant transition from the couple’s 1964 Japanese-style town house to a small, elevated terrace with views of San Francisco Bay. Filigreed Cor-Ten steel fence screens—perforated with a water-jet cutter to cast dappled shadows on a bench and the ground below—and zigzagging board-formed concrete retaining walls are examples.

The front garden.