Rhyne Designs 12th Anniversary
February 2025 marks 12 years since Rhyne Designs was founded and we are happy to celebrate this anniversary and look back on all the work from this past year. While the main landscape design work may only take a few months, most projects take a year or more to go from client’s dream to flowering reality, so here’s a look at projects in a variety of stages:
Finished Work
In the past year some wonderful Rhyne Designs projects have finished construction and welcomed their happy homeowners. A project east of Napa saw the finishing touches of its landscaping installed last Fall, including a nice butterfly and pollinator garden shown below on the left. The landscape design for this large farm property helped tie together various outbuildings with common materials, pathways and new outdoor living spaces. Although the original structure was a 100+ year old farmhouse, the design looked to add some modern touches without straying too far from the rustic aesthetic.
We were also very pleased to see the landscape installation completed for a new house set in the vineyards near Yountville. The landscaping included a variety of drought tolerant gardens around the house that tranistion nicely to the vine rows, along with a swimming pool and lawn area, a Lavender field, an outdoor kitchen and a vegetable garden with fruit trees.
Pictured here is the entry courtyard space which has come to life with ancient Olive trees, decorative gravel, and plants like Catmint to create a Mediterranean vibe.
Projects Under Construction
Construction is underway on several Rhyne Designs projects that we are excited to see take shape. This includes a new house on a large property near Sonoma that is designed around an existing Walnut tree orchard. The house is positioned to line up with the existing tree rows so that they frame views from various rooms. The landscape design adds to this by bringing the orchard grid into the garden spaces, with pathways and planting arrangements further emphasizing the sight lines and linear geometry.
On a farm property outside of Petaluma we have designed new landscaping around a remodeled house, including a planting design focused on bird habitat. Just recently the construction team was able to relocate some boulders from elsewhere on the property to become very nice accents in the front yard gardens. The hills around Petaluma are full of these interesting rock outcroppings and these large boulders are a wonderful way to tie into the surroundings, not to mention being fascinating up close with all the lichens and mosses growing on them.
Current Design Activity
As always, we are excited about the projects we are currently designing, this includes a fun one out in the countryside near Healdsburg on a beautiful 100+ acre property. Here an entrepreneurial homeowner is building a large barn not only for storage and maintenance but also for artistic projects and educational events. Rhyne Designs has been helping to extend this out into the landscape with a series of terraces to function as outdoor living spaces and amphitheater seating for workshops and performances. The stage is carefully sited between beautiful Oak trees and boulders while the terraces are designed to fit naturally within the existing slope of the land.
And on the more urban side of the spectrum, Rhyne Designs has been working on a project in the fascinating “island” community of Belvedere which sits on the edge of the San Francisco Bay across from the big city. This project includes two new houses being built side by side on the rocky shoreline, with incredible views towards the Golden Gate Bridge and all the beautiful cityscapes around it. Rhyne Designs has been helping to shepherd this project through the intense design review process and we are now working towards the final design drawings for building permits.
Looking Ahead
As always it is nice to take a moment to look back at the past year’s progress and get excited about the design work ahead. As winter transitions to spring here in the Bay Area the hilly grasslands turn bright green, heralding lots of beautiful flowers and warmer weather ahead!