LUXE profiles how Hollander Design, along with John David Rose Architect and Carrier & Company Interiors, creates a home that embraces history and its surrounding environment.

“It was like stepping into an Andrew Wyeth painting.” That is how the owner of a Shelter Island vacation home describes the feeling of seeing the property for the first time. “My wife and I admired it for many years before purchasing it,” he adds. “We were attracted to the majestic landscape, ancient trees and southwesterly exposure…”

With such stunning natural views, Edmund Hollander, the landscape architect who was brought on for the project, did not want to veer away from the indigenous aspects of the property. “Ed reminded me that we should let the trees and views speak for themselves,” says the husband. Adds Hollander: “This was not a property that needed a ‘landscape statement.’ Mother Nature had made that statement and it was our job to be respectful and deferential.” Taking into consideration the uniquely difficult Shelter Island combination of salt winds, low water and deer browsing, Hollander planted buddleias, vitex, American holly and bayberry—all of which are drought and deer-tolerant. “Fortunately, all of the elements lend themselves to a cohesive landscape that accentuated the elegance of the rolling topography, great trees.”