Victoria Retreat

VICTORIA, MN

Completed 2023

This NARI member first landscaped this site in 2012 to serve a small events building that started life as a private home. The designer literally needed a whole new approach to tame the steep lakeshore terrain when the clients replaced the building with a much larger conference facility just six years later.

To meet the aggressive grand opening deadline, the team was forced to tackle much of the hardscaping last year while the building construction was still underway. The designer and her crews worked around the other contractors, people, equipment and supplies to create new pathways, stairs, retaining walls, gardens and a large lower-level patio boasting a fire pit and an inviting terraced stair walkout to the lake.

As with previous projects at the retreat center, the clients set the bar high for artistic beauty and intuitive organic flow. They wanted visitors to engage with nature outside of the building and to be able to find their way around without obtrusive signage or steep stairs.

The clients were so confident of the superior outcome they wrote into the contract that the NARI member owes them a lobster dinner when the design wins its first award!

Property Serviced by Mom’s Fine Gardening

Behind the Design

Design Notes

Before

A steep lakeshore site the team had first landscaped in 2012, around a small events building that began life as a private home. Six years later the clients replaced it with a far larger conference facility — and the old landscape logic no longer fit the land.

The Idea

Let the ground move like the building: gradual curved paths replace straight stairs for accessible entry at both levels, radial landings and retaining walls echo the eyebrow roof, and a terraced hillside ripples down to the lake — slowing runoff for absorption before it reaches the water.

After

A travertine patio with a central fire pit holds crowds and quiet conversations alike. Basalt columns carry gas lanterns, custom wrought-iron rails guide every stair, and visitors find their way through gardens without a single sign — the hardscaping built while the building itself was still under construction, in time for opening day.

The Brief

—Tame a steep lakeshore around a much larger new building
—Accessible, intuitive wayfinding — no obtrusive signage, no steep stairs
—Artistic beauty with organic flow, engaging visitors with nature
—Ready for a hard grand-opening deadline

Materials & Craft

Travertine patio paving
Bluestone & limestone-blend walls
Basalt columns with gas lanterns
Custom wrought-iron railings
Lake-drawn automatic irrigation

Curves instead of stairs

Gradual, meandering paths replace straight staircases — accessible entry at the main door and the lower level, with the walk itself part of the experience.

The terraced shoreline

Stair-interval terraces step the hillside to the lake, improving access while slowing stormwater so it soaks in before reaching the water.

Reuse as respect

Existing bluestone wall caps, a decorative Juliet railing, and established trees and plantings from the 2012 project were folded into the new landscape.

Light and iron

Gas lanterns on basalt columns, extensive stair lighting, and custom grip-able wrought-iron rails keep the grounds safe after dark without breaking the calm.

The hard part

Building the landscape while the building was still going up — crews working around other trades, equipment, and supplies, on a steep site, against a grand-opening date the clients would not move.