Esker House

New Hampshire

Esker Weave is a cinematic garden of journeys and gatherings. The narrow site spans an esker, a massive deposit of glacial sediment. The site's topography limited most construction to a small plateau, where terraced garden rooms and thick bands of planting quiet the suburban surroundings and center the elements of sky, slope, water and trees. We connected the plateau to the bottom of the steep slopes with two sculptural staircases, giving the residents access to public trails, water recreation, and the town community.

Situated between a river and a pond, opportunities to connect to water and recreation bracket the site.

The arrival to the plateau

Garden Rooms

The landscape design brings focus to the gardens, abstracting the architecture as the edges of garden rooms. The gardens afford immersion in the colors, sounds, scents and textures of the seasons. Regional and elemental materials such as granite paving, local schist walls, and hammered bronze handrails ground these connections to the natural world. Two monumental staircases ascend and descend the slopes, transecting the esker with a unifying grain.

We paid close attention to the textures offered by stone, wood, and leaves, and the architectural qualities of the trees

2842 N46 medium — The walks, walls, and plantings work together to create immersive moments in the landscape and separate the garden rooms from each other.

2842 N47 medium — Local mica-schist stone was selected for the subtle shimmer and light that it reflects into the gardens.

2842 N32 medium — At the top of the east embankment, a garden room overlooks the slope and adjacent pond. The water trough adds sound and atmosphere.

2842 N44 medium — The bosque on a quiet winter night

An Immersive Threshold

Beginning at the street, we designed a gently curving stairway punctuated by garden landings that greet visitors with a relaxed and immersive threshold into the site. Native plants blanket the slope,offering a glimpse of the site’s diverse woodland glade palette that replaced extensive lawn. At the top of the steps, a stacked stone wall screens the plateau, completing the soft departure from the public view of the street and slope.

Looking down the eastern stairs to the street and pond

2842 N12 medium — We slipped narrow granite walks along the embankment at each stair landing, offering opportunities to pause and explore.

2842 N4 medium — As one of the few landscape elements that is frequently touched, we paid close attention to the texture of the handrail, which emanates warmth and a welcoming attitude.

Image copy — Concept sketch for the handrail construction

DJI 0068 — The shrub plantings along the eastern stairs offer a break from the dense woodland slopes of the adjacent properties, creating a portal into the site.

The eastern staircase during construction.

Handrail bronze — Hand-hammered bronze handrail sample.

Experience of the Site

On the central plateau of the site, we wove bands of precise granite walks, rough schist walls, and dense lines of birch and aspen to create a variety of garden rooms in the pockets of space in between. Despite the small size of the plateau, these rooms feel separate and distinct from each other, sized to be equally comfortable for solitary moments or entertaining groups. Beside the house, a bosque of 12 honeylocust trees balances the mass of the buildings and extends the dining area for outdoor entertaining. Further on, the central walk slips between building and site walls to descend to the pool. The wood coping and deck are bounded by stone walls that step down to the western slope, leaving the view towards the river uninterrupted.

Our strategy for planting and grading created enhanced privacy for the pool terrace. The pool overlooks the western wooded slope, offering afternoon shade and a gentle cooling updraft from the river below.

Early concept sketch — An early concept sketch for the site plan established our methodology of weaving, creating a strong grain and cross-grain to subdivide the site.

2842 N25 medium — A steel bar fence creates a porous threshold into the pool area

2842 N22 medium — Prizing darkness, the site is minimally lit. Glass globe lamps are hung above the dining table and sitting area within the bosque.

DSCF2665 — We used detailing more typical of an urban setting at the bosque. Structural soil supports the stonedust paving and prevents compaction. Aeration piping and drip irrigation run above the soil profile.

2842 N10 medium — The bird bath adds atmosphere to the east embankment

2842 N16 medium — A runnel next to the spine path expresses the dynamism of water, collecting rain during storm events

A Sculptural Stairway to the River

We led a team of structural and geotechnical engineers, surveyors, and custom fabricators to design and install a sculptural stairway to access the river. Descending over 100’ of slope and requiring a special permitting process, the stairway gently curves to navigate a woodland where no tree removal was allowed, and each square inch of disturbance was accounted for and minimized. A low-impact helical pile system was installed with handheld drills. Prefabricated stair sections connect to the piles, floating above the forest floor and enabling access to the dock and public trail.

The existing woodland slope was too steep to navigate on foot. We worked iteratively on site to ensure the final path of the stairway avoided tree roots and maintained gentle, sculptural arcs.

250307 Occom ASLA Page 15 — The floating stair is delightful for humans and animals alike

Components of the floating stair system

250307 Occom ASLA Page 15 copy — The floating stair interfaces with the water and the public trail

Year

2016–2024

Client

Confidential

Services

Full Design

Team

Beka SturgesMeg GriscomAndrew Barringer