Sag Harbor Cottage

Set on a compact lot in Sag Harbor Village, New York, this residential landscape was designed to give a new contemporary cottage a sense of age, softness, and belonging. Developed by Landelier Landscape Atelier in close dialogue with Sea Lodge Architects, the project reflects a boutique approach to landscape design in Sag Harbor and the Hamptons, where architecture and landscape are considered together from the earliest sketches.

The garden takes its cues from the woodland character surrounding the village. A predominantly native planting palette creates soft, layered planting around the house, with grasses, low understory planting, and a loose birch grove bringing movement and a more natural rhythm to the compact site. Informal stone paving and restrained hardscape soften the clean lines of the architecture, helping the new cottage feel grounded rather than newly placed.

Topography plays an important role in how the property is experienced. Rather than revealing the entire garden at once, subtle changes in grade allow the landscape to unfold gradually as one moves through it, creating a sequence of smaller spaces and changing perspectives within a limited footprint.

Untreated weathering-steel sheet-pile walls quietly retain the changing grades while introducing a subtle reference to Sag Harbor’s maritime history, boatyards, and working waterfront. The material is intentionally simple and honest, providing a contemporary counterpoint to the softer woodland planting.

The result is a Sag Harbor Village garden that feels intimate, contemporary, and deeply connected to place. Native planting, informal paving, architecture, and topography work together to create a landscape that feels both refined and relaxed—a small Hamptons property where the distinction between house and garden becomes deliberately blurred.