It was only a matter of time before Leland Walmsley — a landscape architect specializing in the art and science of designing outdoor spaces for discerning clientele — and his team at everGREEN landscape architects crossed paths with Giffin & Crane. That encounter occurred in 2008 on a comprehensive remodel in Montecito. Since then, they’ve worked together on more than half a dozen projects, from a Tuscan farmhouse residential build to a remodel of the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa.
While Walmsley’s reputation rests with high-end endeavors, he’s not exclusive. He’ll take on 300 square feet as enthusiastically as 300 acres, simply because it’s what he loves to do. Indeed, it’s in his blood.
About a century ago, his grandmother Margaret Sears started practicing landscape architecture at Florence Yoch & Associates in Pasadena. In 1923, she helped create the renowned Italianate garden at the Il Brolino estate in Montecito. She also designed the Ojai Valley Inn’s original gardens and worked on exterior set designs for Gone with the Wind.