Donal Residence

This small lot in Shorewood Hills posed a difficult problem. How to retain the soil that protected the house foundation in a way sensitive to the style aesthetics of neighboring properties. We chose a locally quarried limestone meticulously built with meandering lines that created planting beds for annuals. The whole wall was given a generous setback for each course. We also set the pitch of each stone at a dramatic 20 degrees. The result is a freestanding retaining wall 12' high that, despite 2 decades of freeze-thaw conditions, sits almost unchanged and has never been rebuilt.