California Dreaming: An All-Native Garden in West Marin by Terremoto

When landscape designers Terremoto first walked the property of a 1959 ranch house in Inverness, they inherited a landscape with strong bones. Mature coast live oaks and silk tassel trees anchored the front of the property, while beyond the house the land gave way to meadow, woodland, and a nearby creek. Rather than reimagine the site, the challenge became understanding what already belonged there, and how a cultivated garden could feel inseparable from the landscape surrounding it.

Working alongside Commune Design on the renovation, Terremoto lead designer Nadia Al-Quaddoomi approached the project with a considered touch. Existing trees were selectively pruned to reveal their sculptural forms, while every new planting was chosen from a palette of California native species. But the selections weren’t based solely on what would thrive in West Marin. Terremoto also presented the clients with an ecological overlay mapping the birds, pollinators, and wildlife each plant would support, ensuring every decision strengthened the larger ecosystem.

For the clients, who envisioned the property as a retreat for their young family, the landscape was meant to be experienced as much as admired. Raised vegetable beds, an orchard, compost, places to play, and habitat for butterflies and insects were all incorporated into the design, alongside locally sourced boulders and redwood that root the garden to its setting. The property’s custom gate hardware, designed by local artist Max Frommeld and inspired by the family’s love of surfing, is a subtle reference to the nearby coast.

The result is an all-native California garden that feels unexpectedly lush. “We jokingly called it California Dreaming,” says Al-Quaddoomi. “People often associate native planting with something dry and sparse, but we wanted to show how lush and abundant a California native garden can be.” The planting gradually gives way to the surrounding meadow and woodland until the distinction between cultivated garden and natural landscape nearly disappears.

Photography by Caitlin Atkinson for Terremoto and Stephen Kent Johnson for Commune, as noted.

“It’s not so clipped and neat and tidy…it’s a fantasy of California,” the designers explain. The planting deliberately challenges the assumption that a drought-tolerant native garden must feel sparse.

The landscape evolved alongside Commune Design’s renovation, with the architecture and garden developed in tandem throughout the project. Louis Ptak Construction was the general contractor on both the exterior and interior renovation—and Terremoto worked with Heritage Landscapes for the landscape construction.

For more gardens by Terremoto see our posts:

• Wild Is Best: A Low-Water, High-Spirit Garden in a Small Footprint for an Architect
• Garden Visit: ‘A Cute One in Ojai’ from Terremoto
• Landscape Architect Visit: Terremoto Creates Serenity in Sonoma
• Lessons Learned: Tips from Terremoto on Designing a Landscape that ‘Lives Lightly on the Land’