The core house on 5 acres was oriented to the south. A 19th Century addition reoriented the house westward to face the street and was set on a grass plinth using fill from the basement excavation. At the back of the house, the land was disturbed after the removal of a dilapidated carriage house that was surrounded by a seasonally wet meadow. As part of the new design the front plinth was extended around the back of the house creating a garden raised above the wet meadow. Instead of stairs, sod ramps like those used to access a barn's second story, connect the garden to a circuit of paths through the woods and meadow. A brick beehive cistern discovered during the carriage house demolition was repaired and connected to the house's downspouts, collecting rainwater and recirculating it through a small pool between flowering beds and down a stepped rill set into the sod ramp.