At Home with Scott Shrader: Photo Gallery
Around Southern California, landscape designer Scott Shrader is known for civilized, amenity-filled gardens that are tailor-made for life outside. At his own home, a 1,600-square-foot Regency-style cottage in West Hollywood, Shrader transformed a cramped, 24-by-45-foot brick-and-concrete backyard into this stunning escape.
Custom French doors lead to Scott Shrader’s back garden, framed by two olive trees just outside. Garden details include Walter Lamb chairs, a table made from reclaimed scaffolding, and exterior hardscaping crafted with vintage Guatemalan pavers. Shrader designed the bronze center feature, titled Flight of Icarus, with sculptor Simon Toparovsky.
For the full story on Shrader's garden, see Great Designs: Scott Shrader.
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Agave ‘Red Margin’ border the water feature, which is made from sheet bronze. The stone element in the background is a reclaimed French post, juxtaposed on its right with a boxwood globe and a wooden seat. The large-leaved Begonia ‘Lotusland’ is a prized possession; it was hybridized by Rudy Ziesenhenne for Madame Walska, the founder of the Lotusland garden, and has been in Shrader’s collection for over a decade.
Vintage and reuse are key elements of Shrader’s design. Here, the top of an outdoor table is built from reclaimed scaffolding, and its base is made from a teak trunk; the rusted metal ball to the left is an old buoy. Vintage orchid pots from Hawaii hold the echevaria plants on the table and the larger bonsai tree is a Georgia Petite Indian hawthorn.
A raised planter of wheatgrass holds a stone globe and a weathered wooden buoy.
A seating area of the garden is built from brick to match the house. The fire pit was made from stone taken from an abandoned well in France. The side table, an upside-down metal planter, was salvaged—on top of it is an olive bonsai tree in a vintage orchid pot. In the upper right corner is plumeria, and the hedging is Ficus nitida.
Other Designs by Scott Shrader
This outdoor room, with floors and table base made from reclaimed scaffolding planks, is for guests at a fitness retreat called The Ranch at Live Oak Malibu, where Shrader designed landscapes and helped with interiors. On the floor is an Agave attenuata.
Other Designs by Scott Shrader
Shrader also used reclaimed scaffolding for a table and benches in an outdoor dining area at The Ranch at Live Oak Malibu.
Other designs by Scott Shrader
At a Los Angeles residence, an espalier tangerine tree is surrounded by hen and chicks at its base.
Other Designs by Scott Shrader
For a poured-in-place aggregate water feature installed at a Hollywood Hills home, Shrader sand-set the hardscape and added Corsican mint between the pavers.
Other Designs by Scott Shrader
At the entry of a Malibu home featuring Shrader designs, aluminum planters hold boxwood globes, and carrotwood trees frame the front door.