Restoring a c. 1903 Arts and Crafts home and landscape in Picton, Prince Edward County to modern use; with solar power, rain water collection and native tree and understory plantings.

“We’re renovating this, but it’s not for us, right?” says homeowner Jeff DiBattista. It’s for the next four generations that are going to live in the house. That’s how we think of it: in one-hundred-year blocks. So we want to do it properly.” …  “Landscape architect Victoria Taylor brings a holistic vision to the project; she does not separate the architecture from the landscape. “The land is part of whatever structures are there. And when you think about it,” she says, “land comes first.” Her approach is characterized by what she calls “slow landscape”: “How do humans and nature come together, which is what we all want to do? If we want to be more connected to nature, we have to slow down to the pace of nature. The other way around isn’t going to work.” Just as the DiBattista’s envision generations of inhabitants, Ms. Taylor identifies her work as more cyclical than linear. For example, the soils, stone and hard materials disturbed in the restoration will remain on site and be redeployed. This is both environmentally sound, but also in keeping with the Arts and Crafts movement’s emphasis on hand-craftsmanship.

Read more about the project and the history of the house:  “A Tale of Two Postmasters: Renovation of Bongard House at 23 Barker puts community and connection at the centre.” Picton Gazette, Sept 11, 2024.