CHECK. OUT. THIS. WALL. Y’ALL.
I love love love love how this ended up!!! It protects my beloved boxwoods from eroding, it delineates the yard from the gravel so we won’t have mulch or grass spilling into the driveway, and it really adds some class (I think) to the whole driveway and therefore property overall. Something about a good rock wall seems established and traditional without trying too hard… like it’s just meant to be there.
I could not be more pleased with how the masons put it together. Heavy on the natural rock, light on the mortar, and somehow crisp lines to boot.
Here is a picture from our front porch looking out toward the driveway. I love the wall on the left but after a day or two, David and I both decided it felt a little… unbalanced. Like we were missing a wall to round it out on the right side too.
The middle “island” in the driveway is made up of mulch, boxwoods, dogwoods, and one big pine tree, and kind of seems like it’s not finished now that we see what the retaining wall looks like on the other side.
We still have that one brick column after our matching brick column was accidentally knocked down by the crew putting in the circular driveway. (We got a check from the crew’s insurance company to replace the column but instead of using the money from the check to replace it, we used the money to run a conduit with electricity to where the columns were so we could eventually light them and a few of the big trees in front of the house. We can’t afford to put in the lighting now, but one day when we are ready, we won’t have to dig up the driveway to install anything.)
After a lot of deliberation, we decided to tear down the lone brick column and just have a rock retaining wall go around the whole mulch center of the driveway island. The brick columns are not original to the farmhouse (we’re 99% sure they were built in the 1960s) and while they add a certain panache to the entrance, they don’t fit with the rock wall idea that I love so much. We decided to ask the masons to carefully deconstruct the brick column and we saved the bricks for some future project tbd.
And in the meantime:
We found a use for all the extra stones laying around the yard!
Next blog post I will share the finished product with y’all! I can’t wait!
I wish everyone reading this a lovely week full of hope and happiness,
And believe me, when you see the wall, it is even more beautiful than the photos show. It is a real work of art, in my opinion. Incredible job, Lynne, for the idea and the design… and especially nice that each stone came from the property. Now, that was a JOB !!! digging up that many big rocks and cleaning them so well. You and David make a great team !!!
<3 thank you so much! I appreciate that more than you could know. :)