Among the rows of showy, manicured gardens in Naples’ Port Royal neighborhood, this landscape—blending tranquil Asian aesthetics with modern sensibilities—stands apart. Designed by renowned landscape architect Christian Busk, the site reveals its beauty slowly through soft layering and deliberate restraint.
There’s no grand reveal, no over-the-top floral display to add curb appeal. Instead, a hushed border of royal palms and a veil of green island ficus conceal the green space. Beyond the natural buffer, visitors step through a freestanding trellis—an understated welcome that avoids the formality of a traditional gate. A granite-clad fountain murmurs softly nearby, setting a meditative tone that carries throughout the space.
Completed in 2021, the three-year project presented a series of design challenges. For one, the home sits atop the Coastal Construction Control Line and had to be built 14 feet above street level, creating a sharp divide between the natural and built environments. The building’s coastal modernist footprint also occupies most of the lot and required extensive hardscaping to integrate with the terrain.
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Photography by Ed Chappell
port royal backyard garden outdoor space walkway
Landscape architect Christian Busk designed geometric granite block and turf driveways to maximize limited planting space around this Naples lot, which sits 14 feet above street level. Top spread: The two-tiered pool preserves neighboring sightlines while creating a sculptural water feature.
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Photography by Ed Chappell
port royal backyard garden outdoor space flower up close
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Photography by Ed Chappell
port royal backyard garden outdoor space aerial view
Christian was left to work with small planting zones—a constraint at odds with the homeowners’ request for organic lushness and ease. “The first thing we told Christian was that we were not interested in symmetry,” the homeowner says. “We were looking for a little wabi-sabi—perfection created by imperfection.” The process became an exercise in adaptation—an ongoing dialogue between function and feeling. “It’s like a video game in a way,” the homeowner adds. “You have to factor in constraints, and then you have the artistic elements you want to add.”
To address the incline and make the journey to the front door feel natural and grounded, Christian designed an entryway with a gradual set of shallow marble stairs broken by landings and framed by planters of swaying palms. “The house is floating in the air, but you can’t tell from the road,” the landscape architect says.
Due to the lot’s linear layout, the home required two driveways—one to the front door, one to the guest entrance—further cutting into the available green space. Christian offset the hardscape’s dominance by designing the drives as geometric grids of split-faced granite blocks and turf. Because the driveways are visible from nearly every vantage point, he developed a design that worked both underfoot and from afar, using negative space to create a clean, graphic rhythm. “Even after 45 years of designing elaborate hardscapes, it didn’t follow any pattern we’d done before,” he says.
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Photography by Ed Chappell
port royal backyard garden outdoor space greenery
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Photography by Ed Chappell
port royal backyard garden outdoor space aerial view backside
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Photography by Ed Chappell
port royal backyard garden outdoor space side stair view
A gradual ascent of shallow stairs broken by marble landings makes the journey to the front door feel grounded; a waterfall echoes the garden’s meditative tone.
In the front yard, plantings of flowering cassias, palms and angel wing begonias build upward, visually anchoring the elevated home in layers of green. Moments of discovery punctuate the grounds, nodding to China’s Classical Gardens of Suzhou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its layered vignettes and poetic asymmetry. Between the entryway and the garages, a stepping-stone path slips into a shaded pocket of Australian tree ferns and gingers. At the stair landing above, a built-in bench overlooks the scene, offering a moment of pause before the final ascent.
Granite paver paths run along the sides of the home, bordered by black pebble beds planted with mondo grass, red congo philodendron and guava trees—subtle contrasts that guide the way toward the backyard and dock. Behind the home, the garden steps down in four terraced levels—part patio, part planting—softening the grade as it approaches the bay. Above it all, a raised terrace overlooks the water.
To preserve neighboring sightlines, the pool was designed in two tiers: a smaller upper basin, flush with the house, spills into a larger lower pool. Lining the feature, slim planters filled with red candle bromeliads add a bold flourish, turning what could have been a utilitarian edge into a sculptural moment. “You had to make it beautiful, even though there’s just concrete everywhere,” Christian says.
Stairs crafted from the same marble used at the front entry lend a sense of continuity throughout. Despite the refined materials and crisp geometry, the mood remains unforced and intimate. Clustered palms shelter the garden in quiet green. “The space is just wondrous,” the owner says. “It’s so private and filled with nature—it’s liberating.”
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Photography by Ed Chappell
port royal backyard garden outdoor space water view
Terraced gardens step gently toward the bay behind the home. Intentional touches—like a hidden Buddha in a shaded corner—create moments of pause inspired by China’s Classical Gardens of Suzhou.
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Photography by Ed Chappell
port royal backyard garden outdoor space buddha statue