P R O F I L E | G R A C E D E S I G N A S S O C I AT E S
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WITH NATIVE
PLANTINGS AND
ARCHITECTURAL
ELEMENTS,
LANDSCAPE
DESIGNER
MARGIE GRACE
CULTIVATES
IMAGINATIVE
OUTDOOR
ENVIRONMENTS
THAT ARE BOTH
ORIGINAL AND
CHARACTERISTIC
OF THEIR
SURROUNDS.
W R I T T E N B Y J E N N T H O R N T O N
Landscape designer and author of a lush
new tome, Margie Grace cultivates exquisite
gardens with singular flora and flourish.
A Force of Nature
PHOTOS:
GRACE
DESIGN
ASSOCIATES
AND
HOLLY
LEPERE
JOHNSON
(HOME).
"Dirt is my thing. It really is," says Margie
Grace, founder of Grace Design Associates,
a leading landscape design/build studio
in Santa Barbara. Such is the nature of an
outdoor girl. One of five children born to
young parents in rapid-fire succession, Grace
was raised to dig in and make do. "We were
broke," she adds, with a large, expressive
laugh. "I had no idea we were broke. Everyone
just worked—gardening, sewing clothes,
refurbishing old things. I learned to build by
just tagging along. It's how I learned to do all
the things I do."
Much can come from rich soil, and in Grace's
case this means hundreds of rapturous
outdoor environments, many created with the
sensibility of her native Southern California.
These designs are a kaleidoscope of her
expertise, which includes studies in life and
earth sciences as well as coursework in
landscape architecture at UCLA. Forging a
more unorthodox path than some in her trade
is only to her benefit. "I came in through a
different door, and I carry a different set of
tools," she says. "I earned a seat at the table
just with my body of work." And what work,
including projects at the iconic Greystone
Mansion in Beverly Hills, Patina Farm in Ojai
and a Montecito garden restoration project
that earned a Best in Outdoor Living award
from venerated magazine Veranda.
Uncontrived, lush with exotica and featuring
ponds and porticos, stonework and sculpture,
"garden" actually seems too provincial a
term for the hybrids of function and fantasy
that Grace creates. Hers is a fine eye and
remarkable hand. "As a licensed landscape