Our Contact Info

By Design Landscape Architecture

John Longhill
P.O. Box 25689
Silverhorne, Colorado 80497

Office: 970-389-8496

Project List

Colorado Residential Homes - Breckenridge, Firsco, Silverthorne & Beaver Creek
The western slopes of the Rocky Mountains in alpine and sub-alpine environments. Developed Master landscape plans, perennial gardens, hardscape designs and project management

Achasta Resort (formerly Birch River) – Dahlonega, Ga.
A mountain resort community with a Jack Nicholas golf course. Developed landscape architectural & site development guidelines for residential and commercial sites. Landscape design for 20 homes, boulevard plantings & Sales Center.

Big Canoe Resort - Big Canoe, Ga. 
A mountain resort town in the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains. Landscape design for the Sconti Clubhouse, Wildcat swim club, boulevards, main gate & subdivision entrances, residential landscape design for over 300 homes, specializing in entryways, contemplative gardens, decks, patios and water features. Designed Sconti Clubhouse, North Gate Entrance, Wildcat Boulevard/Entry, Cox Mt. Entry, High Gap, Wedgewood and Summit at Highlands Entry. Landscape design for over 300 homes.

Swan Center Farm - Marble Hill, Ga. 
An educational facility on 150 acres. Master planning and landscape design for facility including retreat house, classrooms, welcome center, trails, and public recreation facilities within the context of a botanical garden.

Sailfish Point - Hutchinson Island, Florida 
An ocean to riverfront resort community
Landscape design for the gatehouse entry and sales complex, main boulevard, service complex, 2001 Condominium, 2800 Condominium, golf club, restaurant and for the Jack Nicholas golf course. 

Indian River Plantation - Hutchinson Island, Florida 
An oceanfront to river resort community of 207 acres. Landscape design for five condominiums complexes, six multi-family villa communities, a golf course, marina, tennis club and restaurant complex. 

The Moorings of Vero Beach, Florida 
Waterfront residential community on 190-acres. Landscape design for 15 residences, the Executive office, North and South Passage condominium, The Anchor residential community, West Passage condominium and Spinnaker Point condominium.

Islandia Condominium 
 Oceanfront resort residential complex on 50 acres. 
Landscape design, decorative wall designs and special site construction details. Received an ASLA honor award for landscape design.

Schooner Oaks
Townhouse development on 75 acres, sited in a virgin Florida hammock. Master planning and landscape design for entire site including residential units, entrance models and recreation facilities. Coordinated successful transplanting of hundreds of 20 to 50 year old oaks.

The Dune Condominium 
An exclusive 30 unit residential oceanfront complex. Master planning, landscape design of entry, residential units and recreation complex

Big Cypress Nature Center Naples, Florida
A public nature center providing education on the natural systems of Florida. Native systems resource analysis, Master site plan, and landscape design

Ruby Ranch - Silverthorne, Colorado
Equestrian facility landscape design. Chairman of architectural review committee

Estate Mountain Home - Breckenridge, Colorado
Landscape and perennial garden design

Estate Mountain Home - Beaver Creek, Colorado
Landscape and perennial garden design

Ranches along the Lower Blue - Silverthorne, Colorado
Master plan and Perennial garden design

O'Conner Estate - Lexington, Kentucky
Master plan and landscape design

Partial list of Commercial and Industrial Projects 

Site analysis and development planning, landscape design

• Boca Raton Police Station Boca Raton, Fla.
• First National Bank of Stuart, Florida 
• National Bank of Melbourne, Florida 
• Westinghouse Industrial Facility in Melbourne, Florida 
• McDonnell Douglas Missile Production Facility in Titusville, Florida 
• Homestead Air Force Base Commissary in Miami, Florida 
• Patrick Air Force Base Exchange in Cocoa Beach, Florida 
• Regency Communications in Melbourne, Florida 
• Trident Submarine Base at Kings Bay, Georgia
• Barclay Beach Club in Ft. Pierce, Fla.
• Sandpebble Beach Club 
• Fairwinds Cove 
• Long Bay Plantation in St. Lucie, Fla.
• Four Winds on the River

Recent Client List & References 

(contact Information available on request)

As a landscape architect I approach a design, in much the same way as an artist approaches the commission of a portrait. Like the painter, I must get to know the subject intimately before the design process can begin. Much of the information needed will come from the client, and the rest from studying the site itself with all its unique features and opportunities. Like a portrait, a good landscape design will reflect the personality of the client through its layout and function while bringing to the forefront all of the exciting natural components of the site.

A tool I use to help maintain the proper perspective during the design process and to gauge how successful I have been with the design effort is to ask myself the following question: "When this design is completed, will it meet the needs of my client and provide an inspiration for their own creative endeavors?". This question is important because I believe that the true test of any art form lies in its ability to inspire, and landscape design as a three dimensional art form should be inspirational and spiritually uplifting to those experiencing it.

Of course, a landscape is much more complex than a two-dimensional painting because it is not static. It is three-dimensional and alive, constantly changing as plants grow and adapt to environmental conditions, providing experiences that are moment-to-moment, hour-to-hour, season to season, year after year. The myriad of textures, colors and spaces created by the dedicated layout of living components is unique to landscape design. Whereas a painting requires paint arranged on a canvas, a landscape design requires plants, stone, soil and wood arranged on a site. Ideally, the end result will be a functional and beautiful landscape design that captures the inner and outer essence of the site and the client.

A few years ago, I happened upon a quote from an address given to the graduates at Emory commencement exercises in 1957, I realized it reflects my own beliefs about professional services.

“In a very real sense (his) professional service cannot be separate from his personal being, he has no goods to sell, no land to till; his only asset is himself . . . . (Therefore) He need not be a miser, hoarding his talents and abilities and knowledge, either among himself or in his dealings with his clients. . . He need not keep a watchful eye lest he slip, and give away a little bit of what he might have sold. He should not censor his thoughts to gain a wider audience. Like love, talent is useful only in its expenditure, and it is never exhausted . . . (and) never confuse the performance which is great, with the compensation, be it money, power or fame, which is trivial . .”

Judge Elbert Tuttle

 
Longhill Family Residence in the Colorado Rockies elevation - 9300'

I was inspired to pursue Landscape Architecture as a result of a chance meeting with Frederick B. Stresau - one of the pioneers of landscape architecture in the State of Florida. I met Fred in 1975 when he hired me to help work on the landscaping of his home in Sewell's Point, Florida. He had acquired a pristine piece of property at the end of a penisula, located at the confluence of the St. Lucie and Indian River. Fred was the ninth registered landscape architect in the State of Florida and a graduate of the University of Illinois in 1937. We became good friends and I credit him with inspiring me to apply to the Landscape Architecture School at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He was the embodiment of the title "landscape architect" and truly a "steward of the land".

After graduation with a BLA in 1978, I wanted to get a better understanding of the term "genius loci" or the spirit of place (in relation to our great country) before going to work for Fred Stresau. Fred was understanding and gave me his blessing to embark upon a cross-country bicycle trip as a way to experience this country at a grass roots level. I was hoping to gain an understanding of our collective consciousness as a nation in hopes that it would serve my professional development as a landscape architect.

I began my trek in Gainesville, Florida and bicycled to Crescent Beach where I dipped my rear wheel in the Atlantic ocean as the ceremonial start of the trip. I traveled between 50 and 140 miles per day through the rural countryside of Florida and South Georgia and on up to Atlanta, Chattanooga and Nashville, Tennessee. I stopped in Bowling Green, Kentucky for a few weeks and worked with my cousin on a large house he was building for his family. I drew up a landscape plan as a gift for him and then headed cross country. The route I chose was dedicated for bicycle travel as part of our nations bi-centennial celebration two years prior. I traveled mostly back roads, some gravel through some of the most scenic areas of our country. I traveled through the Ohio valley, the Missouri Ozarks, the plains of Kansas and the magnificent Colorado Rockies. I headed north through Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park, Missoula, Montana and the Nez Perce Nat. Historic Park in Idaho. After crossing Oregon, I dipped my front tire into the Pacific ocean at Coos Bay, Oregon. I completed the trip by continuing down the Pacific coast throught the Avenue of the Giants redwood forest and crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.

After the bicycle trip, I went to work for Fred Stresau and apprenticed under him for 7 years.When he retired, I was asked to take over management of his office in Palm City, Florida. During this time we were involved in a variety of projects all over Florida and the Southeast United States, including master plans for large scale residential developments, nature centers, private homes and industrial projects (i.e The Navy - Trident Submarine Base in south Georgia). Fred wrote My Eden (a book about the landscape plants of South Florida) and I became the principal photographer for this book. During this time I passed the L.A.R.E and became a licensed landscape architect in the State of Florida and became C.L.A.R.B. certified.

In 1986 I moved to Atlanta, became licensed in Georgia and formed a landscape architectural design/build firm - Swan Landscape Company. Swan Landscape grew from a modest one man office in 1987 to large scale operations encompassing landscape design and installation work all over North Georgia. The primary focus was master planning for large ranches and farms, custom residential design/installation in the mountain communities of North Georgia. (Birch River, Highlands, Chestatee & Big Canoe)

In 2001 while still operating Swan Landscape Company, I opened a satellite office in Silverthorne, Colorado and began design and consulting work nationwide. Swan Landscape Company was sold in 2007. The Colorado practice is focused entirely on design and consulting work for Colorado ranches, custom mountain homes, flower bed and garden design, and general landscape architectural consulting.

I believe in service to my community and have involved myself in volunteer activities that I feel have a great impact on the quality of life in our region. I am presently the executive director of Swan Center Outreach, a non-profit organization that partners abused and neglected animals with special needs children for educational purposes, A board supervisor of the Middle Park Conservation District, Vice President of the WillowBrook Metro District for Ruby Ranch and chairman of their Architectural Review Committee.

In 2008 I completed the Master Gardener course offered by CSU to further my knowledge and understanding of Colorado's mountain alpine environments and received my Master Gardener Certificate.

I consult with homeowners, architects, engineers, land planners, contractors and developers, offering landscape architectural services and project management. My experience as a landscape architect and project manager, landscape contractor, public speaker, instructor, rancher and designer, in almost every planting zone in the continental U.S. gives my clients a unique and broad base of experience that they can benefit from.

Professional Experience

Design Consulting • Master Planning • Site Planning/Landscape Development • Planting Design • Perennial Borders • Public and Private Gardens • Water Features  • Grading Plans • Resource Analysis • Concept Development • Budgeting • Estimates  • Construction Management • Landscape Loss Assessment

• Thirty two years as a registered Landscape Architect and development consultant for specialty resorts, custom residences, and ranches. Maintained general consulting practice nationwide for residential and commercial projects ranging from 5k to 2M.
• Five years as office director for a major Landscape Architectural firm and project manager for Landscape installation projects ranging in size from $5,000 to $2M.
• Gained national recognition when two magazines ran feature articles about personal residence in Florida: South Florida Home & Garden and Garden Design (a national magazine published by the American Society of Landscape Architects )
• Received an ASLA honor award for the landscape design of the Islandia resort condominium and an award of excellence for a perennial garden in Breckenridge, Colorado.
• Has a regular column for the Summit Daily News during the Spring and Summer on High Altitude Landscape Design.
• Board Supervisor with the Middle Park Conservation Board
• Board member for the Friends of the Lower Blue
• Chairman of the Architectural Review Committee for Ruby Ranch
• Partner in a seminar company that offers educational programs on self-development & personal success coaching - Inventing Your Life
• Executive director of Swan Center Outreach – a non-profit organization partnering rescued horses with children to develop life skills
• Professional photographer specializing in landscapes and wildlife
• Chosen as the primary photographer and consultant for a book about the landscape plants of South Florida, entitled MY EDEN by Frederick B. Stresau

Work History

Landscape Architect/Development Consultant (1978 to present)

President and sole proprietor of a lanscape architectural design firm - Consulting nationwide as a landscape architect and site planning consultant, specializing in landscape & hardscape design, public & private gardens, master planning and innovative design solutions for disturbed sites

President of Swan Landscape Company LLC in Atlanta, Ga. (1989-2007) - Design and installation of landscape projects for resort mountain communities in the North Georgia mountains - residential & commercial

Project Landscape Architect for town of Big Canoe, Georgia (1998-2008) - Consulted & developed landscape plans for developer and Property Owners association on a multitude of projects incl. Sconti Clubhouse, N. Gate Entry, Wildcat Pool recreation area, 12 secondary entrances and over 300 residences.

Project Landscape Architect for Achasta (Formerly Birch River) – Dahlonega, Georgia (2000-2004) - Wrote guidelines for site planning and landscape development and reviewed all plan submittals for residential and commercial development. Landscape design for Sales Office, Project entrance, streetscapes and numerous residences.

Director of Central Florida Operations, Stresau Smith & Stresau 1978 - 1985

Registration & Associations

• Landscape Archiectural registration in Georgia License # 858
• Landscape Archiectural registration in Colorado License # 594
• Member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, ASLA
• Memver of the American Society of Consulting Arborists, ASCA
• National certification by C.L.A.R.B. (The standard of excellence for Landscape Architects)
• C.L.A.R.B. Council Record I.D. # 329

Education

• B.L.A. University of Florida 1978 (minor in environmental studies) 
• A.S. Florida Institute of Technology 1976 (Engineering ) 
• Colorado Master Gardener Certificate

Community Service

• Swan Center Outreach - www.swancenter.org - Co-founded this non-profit for the care of abused and neglected horses that are then partnered with children for self development educational programs. 
• 4-H instructor for photography and horse back riding 
• Board director for Willowbrook Metropolitan District www.rubyranch.com 
• Chairman of the Architectural Review Committee for Ruby Ranch 
• Board Supervisor for the Middle Park Conservation District 
• President of the CSU extension advisory board in Summit County