Our Residential Projects

“Perhaps the light of the soul is like Rembrandt’s light—that tawny, gold light for which Rembrandt’s work is known. This light gives you a real sense of the depth and substance of the figures on whom it gently shines. It achieves a profound complexity of presence through the subtle use of shadow. Such golden earth-light is the natural sister of shadow and cradle of illumination.”

From Anam Cara The Book of Celtic Wisdom, by John O’Donahue.

Creating Residential Retreats

A plant in a planter on the ground
A sculpture of a tree in the grass.
A room with plants and rocks in it
A person is standing in the sunlight through a window.
A pool with palm trees and a long bench
A wall with flowers growing on it

The Dynamic Artistry of Gardens

“Gardens are works of art and have to be treated as such.” As in painting, sculpture, and architecture, we have to keep in mind color, texture, volume, and form. Yet, there is a requisite to gardens that we do not find in other works of art. That is instability. Even if a garden is built, it is not finished. Plants have to live before they reach the required volume; besides, there is a mutation, periodic and cyclic, in the course of the year, that is, flowering, fruit-bearing, and the fall of leaves. Finally, there are changes in the course of the day, such as light, atmospheric conditions, and other aspects. All that, while almost imponderable, must be taken into account in the design of a garden, which I believe must start from an impulse controlled and limited by principles, not by formulas or recipes."

From the Roberto Burle Marx Lectures, edited by Gareth Doherty.

A garden with many different plants and trees

Redefining Gardening Spaces

A path in the middle of a garden with plants.
A close up of some bamboo trees in the forest
A backyard with a hot tub and lawn chairs.

Building Based on Ideation

“It is important that the garden be built around a dominant idea. Do one thing well, and let all others be subordinate to it. If it is to be a central grass plot surrounded by a flower border, do not clutter the area with miscellaneous planting and garden ornament, which will diminish the dramatic effect of the scale of the original conception.”

From Gardens Are for People, by Thomas D. Church.

Styling Outdoors

A white house with lots of green plants.
Large Tropical Foliage, Inspired by Principals of Ikebana, Create Sculptural drama at courtyard spaces
A wall with plants growing on it
White Flowering Plumeria and Bougainvillea Decorate Moss Rock terraces as they gently step down a steep slope, the inviting garden creates an inviting curbside.
A white staircase with steps leading to the top of it.
Terrazo Steps Spill Down to the Driveway Like a Waterfall. Radial pattern of driveway lawn joints pay tribute to historic Albert Ives Design.

The Rhythm of Art

“A work of art cannot be, I think, the result of a haphazard solution. The development of the creative impulse is carried out by means of rhythms that will produce what the artist knows to be the desired result.” From Roberto Burle Marx Lectures, edited by Gareth Doherty

Garden Projects

A large stone fountain in the middle of some bushes.
A garden path with plants and stepping stones.
A close up of some plants in the grass
A large yard with palm trees and a walkway.
Diamond Head Beachfront

“Gardens are for People”

Tommy Church, “The house/landscape construct is more about the flow of articulated spaces than about reaching a static destination. One of our first moves was to pull the floor plane into the landscape. Each area or room has its own program (orchard, children’s lawn, recreation), yet all are bound together in a loose, dynamic order of spatial flow.”

Referring to the Miller House From Dan Kiley, The Complete Works of America’s Master Landscape Architect by Dan Kiley and Jane Amidon

Designing Happy Spaces

A potted plant sitting on top of the ground.
Kahala Residence
A close up of some plants in the ground
Niu Valley Residence
A view of the ocean from above.
Kailua Beach Residence
A backyard with grass and trees, patio area.
Waialae Mauka Residence
A patio with plants and flowers on the ground.
Dune Circle Residence
A pool with an ocean view in the background.
Lanikai Hillside

Unveiling the Inner Structure of Design

“It has often been pointed out that 20th-century painting and physics share a common tendency toward probing behind appearances into the underlying structure of things; that the retreat from likeness in painting is akin to sciences peering far within the surface of the matter.” From Beyond Appearance, by C.H. Waddington.

Residence at Diamond Head: My professor at the University of Oregon, Robert Murase, designed many innovative and beautiful monumental works of stone. He inspired me to move to Japan after college to study these gardens in person. While designing the Blue Rock water wall at this residence, I often asked myself what Murase would do.

Cut Blue Rock from Kapaa Quarry, Waterfall, Island with Bronze Sculpture; Owner: “I want to bring Diamond Head inside the house.” Randall took the owner inside another promontory on Oahu at Kapaa Quarry to see if we could bring the inside of Diamond Head inside the house, so to speak.

A fireplace with many boxes of white paper

From Start to Finish

Two men in hard hats standing next to a pile of rocks.
Two men standing in a room with large rocks.
A rock formation with many rocks on it
A close up of the rock face with a person in it
A wall of rocks with water coming out it
A pile of rocks sitting in front of a building.

Designing Waterscapes

A large concrete planter with flowers in it.
Basalt Veneer and Bush Hammmered Lava Bowls
A pool with steps and a spiral pattern in the middle of it.
Travertine Deck, Matching Porcelain Pool Tile Warning Trip, Ocean Blue
A pool with palm trees and a house in the background.
Kaapuni Pool Court
A pool with palm trees and a house in the background.
Pool as Waterfeature
A bowl of water on top of steps.
Travertine Deck Meets Basalt Veneer Wall and Lava Bowls

Our Residential Portfolio

A woman standing on the side of a road.
A driveway with grass and flowers in the middle of it.
A driveway with two cars parked in it.
A close up of the side of a bench
A black door and some plants in the background
A walkway with stepping stones and rocks in the ground.
A view of the ocean from above shows trees, shrubs and flowers.
A view of the ocean from above shows palm trees and a beach.
A large concrete planter with flowers in it.
A walkway with stepping stones leading to the entrance.
A wall of plants is shown with a sidewalk.
A rock wall with flowers growing on it
A garden with rocks and boulders in the foreground.
A tree stump and some trees in the background
A palm tree in the middle of a garden.
A patio with chairs and fire pit on the side of it.
A potted plant is sitting on the ground.
A stone planter with flowers in it
A lush green garden with palm trees and rocks.
A pool with an ocean view and palm trees.
A pool with an umbrella and chairs on the side.
A large yard with palm trees and a walkway.
A large yard with grass and trees in the background.
A view of the ocean from behind some palm trees.
A pool house with a wooden pole and a table
A rock and some plants in the dirt.
A large house with palm trees in the background.
A garden with many different plants and flowers.
A patio with palm trees and a gazebo.
A patio with plants and flowers in it
A building with flowers growing outside of it.
A patio with chairs and an umbrella on the beach.
A white brick wall with a mailbox on the side of it.
A pool with palm trees and a bench in the middle of it.
A view of a pool with plants and rocks.