This was a very fun project earlier in my career in a downtown neighborhood of Great Barrington overlooking the Housatonic River. It was a challenging lot sandwiched between two other houses. I worked with the client to create new spaces in the narrow, sloping lot that could be made more useful and provide a better landscape to screen plant. We built two granite retaining walls to level off the space extending past the house. This created three new spaces in the backyard. For the top tier closest to the house we built a stone patio which took advantage of the view and provided an entertainment space beyond the walkout basement. The second tier, among many other areas, became filled with large planting beds and created an intimate destination for sitting. The lower part of the lot remained lawn down to the property line which we enclosed with a lace farm wall. These features provided the homeowner with the opportunity to create a quiet sanctuary in an otherwise bustling locale.