Sudbury Farm

This hobbyist farm is located in historic Sudbury, Massachusetts. The original house, built in 1911, was meticulously renovated and the addition was designed by Patrick Ahern to keep loosely within the period of the original house. Like the main building, the goal is to restore the existing landscape elements while enhancing some of the features to parallel the interests of the homeowners. A very active family, the homeowners wanted to provide as many opportunities for their household to entertain as well as connect with the land in a more meaningful way. For this we designed an expansive pool patio off the main living space, using all reclaimed materials for the hardscape and offers a multitude of seating opportunities from lounge, dining and custom fire table. The pool house and pergola are hand-built structures by the same builder as the barn. The living room patio will contain a formal cut garden as well as a custom wood burning fire pit. A new crumbly freestanding wall, constructed with stone found on site, frames the patio space and aligns with the existing stone wall that separates the sunken garden from the greenhouse.

The sunken garden will have its hardscape restored including a new soapstone fountain to replace the existing deteriorating centerpiece. New plantings will be added to increase the seasonal interest as well as providing screen planting along the road to provide greater privacy. The new greenhouse shall have a stone foundation to match the pool house. The greenhouse will be the central feature to a fenced-in raised garden beds, compost piles and a future chicken coop.

The gravel tracks from the motor court lead down to a hand-built pine barn with a light shou sugi ban finish, passing through an orchard consisting a various varieties of apples, pears, and peaches. The existing grassland will transition to meadow around the edges and finally an enhanced woodland layer as the land moves back to forest along the property edges, blending to create a more manicured natural landscape. The two lots combine to be roughly 6 acres.