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Collection by Cynthia Gentry

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This trapeze was made by my trapeze teacher when I was living in San Francisco and going to circus school. I lived in a big Victorian house with roommates. The ceilings were so high I could hang the trapeze and practice at home. Now, my kids are taking over: it's the first thing they do when they get up and the last before going to bed. The rug is an old kilim from Turkey; the Eames lounge chair is the one from my living room growing up in Paris (That is a testament to the great quality of this 30-something-years-old chair); the couch is from Room & Board. -Sophie Demenge
This trapeze was made by my trapeze teacher when I was living in San Francisco and going to circus school. I lived in a big Victorian house with roommates. The ceilings were so high I could hang the trapeze and practice at home. Now, my kids are taking over: it's the first thing they do when they get up and the last before going to bed. The rug is an old kilim from Turkey; the Eames lounge chair is the one from my living room growing up in Paris (That is a testament to the great quality of this 30-something-years-old chair); the couch is from Room & Board. -Sophie Demenge
In the Mission District yard Monica Viarengo created for the Sharkey family, outdoor chalkboard paint by Sydney Harbour applied to marine-grade plywood offers a gallery for creativity. A mural by local artist Erik Otto—inspired by the neighborhood—brightens the back of the space.
In the Mission District yard Monica Viarengo created for the Sharkey family, outdoor chalkboard paint by Sydney Harbour applied to marine-grade plywood offers a gallery for creativity. A mural by local artist Erik Otto—inspired by the neighborhood—brightens the back of the space.
Viarengo added a custom stainless-steel slide to the property’s guest cottage. A green-wall system by Florafelt adds life to the vertical space.
Viarengo added a custom stainless-steel slide to the property’s guest cottage. A green-wall system by Florafelt adds life to the vertical space.
Made from wooden pallets, the tree house was a requirement for the kids in this Hawaiian home. Photo by: Linny Morris
Made from wooden pallets, the tree house was a requirement for the kids in this Hawaiian home. Photo by: Linny Morris
Campbell’s Little Bird swing flies high alongside modern classics like the Eames shell chairs and Saarinen Tulip table.
Campbell’s Little Bird swing flies high alongside modern classics like the Eames shell chairs and Saarinen Tulip table.
Faceted forms clad in ipe slats provide an unexpected theater for fun in Tiburon, California. The landscape, by James Lord and Roderick Wyllie of Surfacedesign, was created for a family with young children. A walkway of pavers arranged in braille spells out a poem by Christopher Marlowe; this element was conceived by local landscape architect Topher Delaney.
Faceted forms clad in ipe slats provide an unexpected theater for fun in Tiburon, California. The landscape, by James Lord and Roderick Wyllie of Surfacedesign, was created for a family with young children. A walkway of pavers arranged in braille spells out a poem by Christopher Marlowe; this element was conceived by local landscape architect Topher Delaney.
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.
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.
A series of mounded earth forms offers an enticing topography for play, including one that holds an in-ground trampoline.
A series of mounded earth forms offers an enticing topography for play, including one that holds an in-ground trampoline.
“[The kids] are engaged, using the mounds as barricades or inventing other worlds,” says Peterson.
“[The kids] are engaged, using the mounds as barricades or inventing other worlds,” says Peterson.
Another important element to the overall design scheme is the incorporation of sculpture, intended to encourage interaction between the landscape and the art. Roundout, 2005, an aluminum piece by Travis Constance, is found amid native grasses, including feathery yellow Nassella tenuissima, which acts “as a nest for the sculpture,” says Wyllie. It is joined by a cotoneaster, a flowering plant with red berries, and a yellow-blooming acacia.
Another important element to the overall design scheme is the incorporation of sculpture, intended to encourage interaction between the landscape and the art. Roundout, 2005, an aluminum piece by Travis Constance, is found amid native grasses, including feathery yellow Nassella tenuissima, which acts “as a nest for the sculpture,” says Wyllie. It is joined by a cotoneaster, a flowering plant with red berries, and a yellow-blooming acacia.