Karri Files Paul designs a classic Southern garden with a courtyard feel that flowers year-round.
by Cathy Martin | photographs by Dustin and Susie Peck
It’s extra special when landscape designer Karri Files Paul lands a client who’s an avid gardener. Such was the case at this Eastover home, a traditional two-story where Files Paul led a complete overhaul of the back patio and yard. The landscaping project was conducted in tandem with a home renovation that included a sunroom expansion overlooking the patio.
“We wanted a classic, Southern, sort of courtyard feel, with more than one space for dining and entertainment,” says Files Paul, owner and principal designer at K.Files Design.
The garden mixes classical and English cottage styles, Files Paul says. Classic elements such as a boxwood hedge and symmetrical patio design blend with an all-season garden for cut flowers.
“A lot of times I get clients that want this look but don’t understand what kind of maintenance is involved, but she does,” the designer says. “I was able to spec plants that I knew she would maintain. We gave her a lot of extra fluff and stuff in there.”
After Files Paul and her team initiated the plantings (Autry Kemp implemented the design), the homeowner began adding some of her own. The result is a garden with blooms in nearly every season. When spring peonies, foxgloves and hydrangeas begin to fade, salvia, dahlias and Japanese anemones make their appearance.
“There’s always something for her to enjoy.”
A tiered fountain emits a soft, trickling sound and attracts wildlife to the garden. Redbud trees flanking the steps leading from the upper lawn to the patio add seasonal color in early spring. Aerial photograph by Jim Schmid.
SIGHTS & SOUNDS
The centerpiece of the courtyard, which is constructed of full-color bluestone and brick, is a fountain surrounded by a bed of small shrubs and flowering perennials. The client requested that the sound of water be integrated into the design.
“We did a whole deep dive on the audibility of different types of fountains,” Files Paul says. They ultimately chose a tiered design from Campania that creates a gentle, trickling sound. Gothic corners on the edge of the fountain help soften the hard lines of the retaining wall designed by Files Paul. The formal flower bed was incorporated into the design to break up the hardscaping.
The fountain was intentionally designed as a focal point.
“The brick herringbone draws a line between the lounge and dining [areas],” Files Paul says. “It lines up with the path to the parking pad and it draws your eye directly to that fountain.”
GETTING TECHNICAL
Files Paul and her team worked hand in hand with the contractor and architect executing the home renovation to calculate the exact footprint of the patio.
“Drainage was a very important topic. … the pitch of the patio, and how tall the risers and the thresholds were going to be,” says Files Paul, a former apparel design director with training from Parsons School of Design and the New York Botanical Garden.
Files Paul added a Gothic-style landing pad and a hanging yoke lantern in the front of the house to make the design seamless with the backyard. The designer sourced the Kingsley-Bate dining table and chairs, lounge chairs with quick-drying reticulated foam cushions, and Bambrella patio umbrella to create a space well-suited for entertaining.
“It’s a very similar process, believe it or not,” she says, when comparing the technical and procedural aspects of both fashion and landscape design. She started K.Files Design in 2020 after returning to her home state of North Carolina.
The redesign gave the homeowners an additional parking space adjacent to the back porch, and more lawn space in the back of the lot.
“We also wanted to keep the upper lawn somewhat visible and very accessible,” Files Paul says. Her team achieved this by adding wide steps leading up to the lawn and flattening out the space. Reducing the number of plants made room for a large, rectangular yard for the family’s dog to run and play.
In the front of the home, the designer and her team refreshed the lighting and hardscaping to create continuity with the backyard.
ENJOYMENT INSIDE AND OUT
“We knew how much we would love the space Karri created for us when we’re outside in our yard,” the homeowner says, citing Files Paul’s diligence in planning, working with the home contractor and architect, and selecting plants, hardscaping materials, outdoor lighting and furniture.
“What we didn’t know is how much we would love it from the inside of our house, looking out. It is like a constant piece of art that changes with the light of the day and the seasons of the year. It offers ongoing enjoyment watching plants and trees bloom at various intervals throughout the year, bringing the outdoors inside and expanding how we use our home.” SP
