JUDGES AWARD AND AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD WINNER: DENNIS’ 7 DEES LANDSCAPING & GARDEN CENTERS
D
ennis’ 7 Dees, Portland, Ore., is a company with deep roots,
employing 100-plus hardworking, lifelong employees. In its fourth generation of family ownership by three of the Snodgrass brothers, the company’s local focus extends be- yond the landscapes and gardening knowledge they provide. They are dedicated to supporting their com- munity and helping it grow. Since 1956, the Snodgrass family
has been growing customers for life by designing, building and maintain- ing beautiful landscapes to thrive for generations just like they have. And now one of those beautiful land- scape projects has earned them both a Judges Award and the Audience Choice Award at LANDSCAPES 2016. The Halcyon Estate is a custom 7,400-square foot home in Tuala- tin, Ore., a southwestern suburb of Portland. The intent of the Dennis’ 7 Dees project was to create a living environment that connects the exteri- or of the estate with the interior and to foster as much outdoor activity as possible. The home was created with many natural elements on the inside, and the owners desired a continual connection between those interior elements and the extensive exterior living space. The site of the estate is flat and
surrounded by a commercial busi- ness operation. The challenge was to screen out the commercial business structures and create uncompromised privacy and the feeling that you were completely in nature surrounded by water bodies and streams in a place that had absolutely none of these elements to begin with. Dennis’ 7 Dees blended more
than 3,000 cubic yards of soil from the house and pool excavation with
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LANDSCAPE PROFESSIONALS 27
compost and used it to create large berms for topography change that set up the screening plants. Some 350 tons of mossy basalt boulders were used in the landscape, and 60 tons of Montana ledge stone was used on the columns, outdoor fireplace and wall treatment along with variegat- ed blue stone for the fire pit patio. These elements helped create a natu- ral earthy feeling. The intent was for the pool to
resemble a natural lake-like water feature rather than a pool. Boulders used for the pool weighed as much as 8 tons each. Crane access was very limited and required a long reach to set the heavy boulders, so an 80,000-pound track hoe was nec- essary. The courtyard water features were installed directly against the window foundation and were designed to give a clean look from window to water without obstruction. Careful at- tention was needed to avoid wicking water along the foundation walls. At the saltwater pool and fresh wa-
ter stream interface, separation was needed so that waters wouldn’t mix, especially since there are Koi in the
stream and pond below. To main- tain the illusion that all water was in fact connected and that the pond water continued down the stream, a separation wall under the bridge was created. Special attention was given to the water levels so everything appeared connected. A stream passes under a glass floor
inside the house and continues to a pond beyond. Plants and irriga- tion had to be carefully coordinated with the house bridge installation. The glass floor inside was extremely heavy and fragile, which required absolute precision setting the glass panels in place in order to avoid chipping. Each was 2-inches thick, weighed about 500 pounds apiece and was set in place by many helpful hands. 7
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