Oasis in the Desert
When two snowbirds from Chicago touch down in Palm Springs, they want to spend their time lounging in the sun instead of gardening. So landscape designer Marcello Villano suggested that the couple banish the front lawn, jacaranda trees and fussy flower beds that came with their getaway when they bought it seven years ago.
The owners loved the idea of wrapping graphic desert plants around the walls of their 1974 house, designed by Indian Wells architects Walling & McCallum. Such a strong building, they decided, needed dramatic succulents, big rocks and tall trees to anchor it to its arid setting.
The home, which originally was white and candy pink, got a color makeover by interior designer Sam Cardella. Inspired by the natural hues of the peeling bark, pebbles and native plants in the San Jacinto Mountains, Cardella chose 14 related hues, from warm ochre to rich plum, for the exterior walls and trim as well as the indoor rooms. Villano, who collaborates frequently with Cardella, worked with these colors and the home’s simple shapes to create a palette that suits both house and garden.
After removing the existing plants--except for 20 Mexican fan palms and one olive tree--he carefully limited the number of new plant types to conform to the building’s minimalist lines. In the front garden, against the plum-colored facade, he chose just three species: silver-blue century plants, golden barrel cacti and shaggy-headed California fan palms, which cast feathery shadows on the walls. In a formerly flower-filled spot behind the house he used a single sweep of bronze-flushed loropetalum, which often blooms pink in winter and requires just a single annual pruning. Aloe vera plants, lined up at the feet of palms near the swimming pool, need no care whatsoever. Thanks to shallow roots and a tough character, they can grow where others can’t in rock-filled infertile soil.
To highlight the new plants, the owners selected thick, timeworn Utah cocoa stone, which Villano used throughout the garden in walkways, accent boulders and a ground-covering “shale” form that harmonizes with the sunny sand-colored birdseye gravel. He also added sculptural specimens such as a Yucca rostrata and a palm-like cycad outside the couple’s bedroom. About a dozen times a year, they fly west to enjoy the simple pleasure of viewing these through their windows and gazing at the mountains through a scrim of self-sufficient desert plants. Ten minutes from downtown Palm Springs, and a world away from Chicago.
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RESOURCE GUIDE
GARDENS, Pages 25-27: Marcello Villano Garden Design, Rancho Mirage, (760) 401-0452. Cardella Design, Rancho Mirage, (760) 324-7688. Walling & McCallum Ltd., Indian Wells, (760) 360-0250.
