NISHIEL PATEL

Merz House Garden

Brooklyn, NY

The Merz House garden is a retreat for a young family newly inhabiting this concrete-clad jewel box home designed by architects Joseph and Mary Merz in the late modernist era in Brooklyn Heights on a rare double-wide lot.The garden's reimagining was designed to reorient the home and the exterior deck towards a central verdant courtyard, unlocking new views and connections between the two. The new design updates the rear deck with an outdoor living and dining area and situates new programs such as fire pit, cedar hot tub, and cold plunge nestled amongst new trees and planting in the reopened center. The new courtyard features a central patio made up of square basalt cobbles, selected to evoke the repeating concept of the square found in the house’s design. The scattered paver pathways have an ephemeral quality through the courtyard, intentionally breaking the rigidity of the grid.

The planting design reinforces the idea of reorientation to the center. Denser and darker trees and shrubs, such as Hollywood Junipers and Winterberry Holly, line the perimeter of the space and define the more open center. Lower shrubs, grasses and perennials, such as Autumn Moor Grass, Prairie Dropseed, Foxgloves, Anemones, Actaea, Echinacea, and Pee Wee Hydrangea Pee amongst other dappled sun-loving selections, are paired with the open form of Multi-stem Grey Birches, guaranteeing continuous views from the deck to the home.

Photo: Adrian Gaut

Completed in 2023
Architecture by Starling Architecture
Installed by Euro Art Construction