Modern house with large glass windows, surrounded by a landscaped garden with purple flowers and green bushes, under a clear blue sky.
A view of lush green trees and plants with a body of water in the distance, under a clear blue sky.
Modern black house with large glass windows on a lush green hillside with various shrubs and trees under a blue sky.
Modern house on a lush green landscape with trees and bushes, set near water in the background under a partly cloudy sky.
View from an open modern architectural structure, looking out to a lush garden with trees and plants, and a distant body of water on the horizon.
Modern house with large floor-to-ceiling glass windows, a small garden with green trees, plants, and outdoor seating area visible through the windows.
Modern house with black exterior siding, overlooking a landscaped backyard with a pool, patio chairs, green bushes, trees, and a grassy field under a cloudy sky.
A backyard with a swimming pool and outdoor seating area, surrounded by lush green plants and overlooking distant rolling hills and a cloudy sky.
An outdoor seating area with four chairs and a fire pit on a patio, overlooking a vast grassy field and the ocean in the distance under a partly cloudy sky.
Modern glass house with a flat roof, located behind grassy dune area and dirt pathway, surrounded by trees and shrubs, under clear sky.
A sandy path running through grassy dunes towards the ocean under a partly cloudy sky.
A wicker chair with a cushion and a side table on a wooden deck overlooking green grass, shrubs, and a sandy path leading to the ocean under a blue sky with scattered clouds.

This 5.5-acre oceanfront property presented two distinct yet interconnected ecologies: a tidal wetland to the north and eroded coastal dunes to the south. Decades of wind and storm activity had created unstable dune formations around the 60-year-old house, while invasive plants had overtaken the wetland.

To restore both stability and connection, LaGuardia Design Group regraded the site using fill from the house excavation, blending the elevated structure into its environment. Sliding stone walkways and terraced outdoor spaces transition seamlessly to natural grades, while native plantings unify the coastal and wetland ecologies. On the ocean side, a vanishing-edge pool appears to dissolve into a field of beach grass and sand, creating an uninterrupted horizon.

The dunes were reshaped with 5,000 cubic yards of reclaimed beach sand, re-stabilized with American beachgrass, and strengthened by plantings of native beach plum and northern bayberry. Along the wetland, a concrete drive and retaining wall were removed by hand to preserve native habitat, and invasive species were replaced with a diverse matrix of native wetland plants. A simple grass walking path now leads through this restored landscape, inviting visitors to experience its resilience and natural beauty up close.


PROJECT TEAM | BMA Architects- Halliday Greer- Whitmores- Wright & Co- Loebs + Gordon Poolcraft- Precision Stone- First Coastal- Orsman Design