Sainte-Marthe Estate Master Plan

This 500 acre private estate is situated at the base of a mountain in western Quebec. As landscape architects for the property, we developed a comprehensive master plan to address a long-term vision to accommodate a growing artisanal cider, ice wine and honey production business. The management plan also addresses drainage problems, as well as an objective to reduce the amount of lawn in favor of meadows and woodlands, requiring less maintenance and contributing to a greater ecological value.  The first phase of implementation is the landscape design of the guest house, which also includes a pool house by McKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects. The challenge of this phase was to integrate four buildings of disparate styles, and located a varying topographic elevations, into a coherent landscape. In addition, the house suffered significant water infiltration due to its location at the base of the mountain. A trail around the perimeter was engineered to control drainage, thus diverting mountain runoff away from structures. In front of the house, the landscape was raised and inclined towards a “ha-ha”. The resulting lawn carpet is connected by a 50-meter-long dry stack stone wall that opens to a flowering meadow through which will flows a creek comprised of the diverted water. Around the house, exuberant gardens provide movement, color and seasonal interest.

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Team:

Sophie Robitaille  Partner, ASLA, CSLA, AAPQ