Drobnick Residence

Petaluma, California

An original downtown 1911 Petaluma Craftsman designed by architect Brainerd Jones, the original garden consisted of the street frontage and a few hundred square feet between the residence and a detached garage.  Remodels over the years have updated the interiors, improving flow and letting in more light, while keeping key period touches in place. In 1995, when the owners were able to acquire an undeveloped neighboring parcel, we helped them organize the property into appropriate use areas, including a dining terrace off the rear porch under a mature Saucer Magnolia tree, a play lawn for their active young daughters, a small petanque area, a vegetable garden with work shed and sturdy arbor, and a hot tub nested under an existing Wisteria-covered pergola.

More recently, the front garden was enclosed in a Craftsman-style cedar fence, with a welcoming gate flanked by clinker brick columns with Craftsman lanterns.  The former lawn in this area has been replaced with Sesleria grasses with Bergenia, green Loropetalums, Spirea, Rhododendrons, Mountain Pepper, and a climbing Hydrangea trained up the clinker brick chimney.

Featured In:

Landscape Installation:  Inverness Gardening Service and Owner

Photography:  Eileen Roche Photography