Finished

The Bard Residence

A wall, and the ground it holds.

A block retaining wall carrying the grade back off the house, granite treads set into the run, the whole side of the property, and the front entrance. Every stage as it went in, in the order it happened.

Where: Cape Cod
Completed: September 2026
Scope: Wall, steps, walk & entry
Status: Complete

The walk

Before anything is priced

Before anything is priced, you walk the ground with the person who has to live on it. Where the water goes, what has to stay, what the grade is really doing behind the house.

Walking the property at the start of the job

Standing at the line the wall will follow

The base

Base and first courses

Ties out, ground opened, base compacted in lifts. The first course is the one that matters — every course above it inherits whatever you got wrong here, so it gets checked, pulled and checked again before the second one goes on.

Excavated run with compacted base and the first courses set

The wall

Wall up, treads in

Wall carried along the house line with the granite treads set into it as it goes, rather than cut in afterwards. Cap stones levelled one at a time. Backfill and the top of the grade come next.

After — segmental block wall on a compacted base, cap course going on, carried along the same line — **The same line, from the same place.** Stacked timbers leaning out under the grade, split along the grain and gone at the ends. Wood holds ground for as long as the wood lasts, which is the whole problem with it.

Before — stacked timber sleepers leaning out of line, split along the grain and rotted at the ends — **The same line, from the same place.** Stacked timbers leaning out under the grade, split along the grain and gone at the ends. Wood holds ground for as long as the wood lasts, which is the whole problem with it.

Block retaining wall with granite steps, seen down the run

The wall and steps from the driveway side

Mixing mortar alongside the finished course

Steps and edge

Steps, cap and the finished edge

Granite treads set into the wall, cap course carried back to the house, and the cobble edge that holds the bed line and moves the roof water off the foundation.

Finished granite steps turning off the block wall, with the walk running beyond

Granite treads with stepping stones set through washed stone beyond them

Close detail of a tread returning into the wall under the cap course

Stone going down between the two cobble edges, first shrubs set in the bed alongside

Cobble-edged stone strip along the foundation, mulched beds either side

The side of the house

Walk, beds and edges, finished

The whole side of the house is in. Washed stone laid between two cobble edges that curve with the wall rather than cutting straight past it, beds mulched and planted to the line, and stepping stones set through black river stone where the walk turns for the door. Every edge follows the wall rather than cutting straight past it, which is the only reason the run reads as one piece of ground.

Granite steps and stacked stone skirt, with the cobble edge sweeping the washed stone around them in a single curve

Stepping stones set through black river stone, running past the enclosure to the granite step at the lawn

The washed stone run held between cobble and mulch, hydrangeas planted out along the bed

Cobble-edged stone walk curving along the side of the house toward the deck, planted bed alongside

Hydrangeas and upright junipers planted out along the mulched bed, cobble edge running past them

The same walk from the far end, hydrangeas set along the mulched bed under an upright juniper

Cobble edge holding the bed line, stone run carrying past the foundation to the deck

Under the deck

Fence panel closing off the storage nook

Same trip, different trade — the open space under the deck gets a matching vinyl fence panel and gate instead of staying open to the yard. Set plumb against the existing corner post before anything gets fastened down, then hung, latched, and run down to the mulch line.

Fitting a vinyl fence panel into the framing under the deck, storage nook behind it

Checking the panel's fit against the corner post

Sighting the post for plumb before the final fasteners go in

Finished vinyl enclosure with gate hung and latch set, wet from rain

Stepping stones set through black river stone where the walk turns past the enclosure

Front steps

Curved bluestone out, granite in

What was at the door was a curved bluestone flight on a thin stone skirt. What is there now is thermal-finish granite: full slabs, two risers deep, run out to a landing that reaches the sill. The skirt under each tread is laid course by course and pointed as it goes, and the joints between the slabs are sponged off while the mortar is still green — once it cures on the face it comes off with acid or not at all.

After — thermal-finish granite, full slabs two risers deep, run out to a landing that reaches the sill — **Same doorway, curve out and square in.** The bluestone flight was radiused on a thin skirt. What replaced it is full granite slabs, two risers deep, landing out to the sill.

Before — the curved bluestone flight on a thin stone skirt, radiused treads stepping down to the drive — **Same doorway, curve out and square in.** The bluestone flight was radiused on a thin skirt. What replaced it is full granite slabs, two risers deep, landing out to the sill.

Mid-build, the far half of the run still open with mortar and stone chips, joints being sponged off by hand

The finished flight from the drive in full sun, the riser stone reading warm under the grey treads

Along the landing at eye level, the joint between slabs tight and the thermal finish catching the light

The front entrance

Granite steps and landing, at the doors

The last corner. Three granite treads the full width of the doors, each one a single piece with the rock face left on its edge, carried on courses of laid stone rather than a poured wall with a face stuck to it. The landing above is the same granite, cut square and jointed tight, and the bottom tread meets the new drive without a lip to catch a toe or a shovel.

Three granite steps running the full width of the doors, risers faced in laid stone, landing on matched granite above

Low view along the granite treads showing the rock-faced edge and the stone risers behind it

The long edge of the run, treads stepping down to the drive

The corner where the bottom tread meets the drive, flush and without a lip

The steps and landing seen from the drive, doors above

Anyone can set the middle. The edge tells you who built it.

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