SAMARA's Lush Green Plantings
Frank Lloyd Wright was given a sloping site that he covered with predominately green vegetation - mostly in the form of evergreen plantings.
The resulting lush dark green was to be the primary natural color to be viewed from the house. Large expanses of glass facing to the southeast were designed for the living room and terrace to allow the lush green foliage on the site to be seen from inside the house.
To facilitate this effect, Wright specified the arrangement of 80 species of plants on the site. In some form or another, thick plantings extend all the way around the property lines and right up to the edge of the house.
On the ground at the base of the terrace wall within eight feet of the living room, Mr. Wright included plantings of euonimous, an evergreen species, that grows skyward along red steel posts located between the lower roof and the terrace wall.
The overall effect is that green vegetation planted outside becomes a prominent part of the view from inside the living room. In addition, because of the nature of the sloping lot, it is the tops of trees planted well below the foundation level of the house that are seen in the panoramic view from inside the house.
Throughout the year, the amount of light that reaches the inside of the house is controlled by a combination of these plantings, the house design and seasonal changes.