However, the project that landscape designer Laura Stack of Creative Outdoor Spaces undertook with a new client in 2017 was far from ordinary. After receiving a referral, Kansas City, Missouri, homeowners Lauren and Drew Timberlake summoned Stack to help them transform the overgrown, disconnected property surrounding their new-to-them 1920s native limestone house into a vibrant and versatile alfresco sanctuary. Neither party could have foreseen the remarkable journey that followed, one that would foster a deep and meaningful connection to nature.

The couple, who had yearned for acreage within the city—a tall order by any standard—were captivated by the charming south suburban property. By all appearances, it could have been in the English countryside rather than in the Midwest. Located off a busy Kansas City thoroughfare, at the far end of a quiet, leafy street, the home was the area’s pinnacle estate-sized farmstead—and the captor of the Timberlakes’ imagination.

They prioritized the home’s outdoor renovation before addressing the interior remodeling. With Stack leading the way, they began creating intentional, organic spaces that would evolve over the years to create a multiuse outdoor haven for the family.

“We wanted a design that felt period-appropriate, and Stack was able to help us with a cohesive master plan,” Drew says. “Where others suggested pulling up and discarding decades-old shrubs and trees, she found ways to move and repurpose them, which not only saved us money but also helped the landscaping to feel more mature, rather than waiting several years for it to come into its own.”