This location sits at the edge of a natural forest, where tree and lake views can be ‘borrowed’ for miles. The property owners had nonexistent outdoor space and wished for one. Furthermore, the house was hardly visible due to a dense thicket of unhealthy white fir trees, which were plagued with various ailments and also deemed the house indefensible in case of a fire. Once the clearings took place, we proceeded to create four terraces for planting, retained with natural stone, creating a natural and calm environment to address the steep slope. The slope was a perfect candidate for a water feature cascading into a pond filled with thriving aquatic plants and goldfish that live off algae and insects, and hibernate during in winter. A meandering path leads to a new seating area from which one can view both the natural looking water feature as well as Lake Tahoe.