From Sterile Lawn to Living Shoreline: A Lake Washington Transformation

When landscape designer Paul Broadhurst noticed sinkholes developing in a concrete bulkhead on Lake Washington's Kirkland shore, he saw more than a repair job — he saw an opportunity. The property's acre of lawn, held back by a failing wall, could become something alive: a pebbly beach, a naturalistic meadow, a reconnection to the lake's ecological spirit.

"They had this beautiful piece of waterfront property," Broadhurst says. "Why not take full advantage of the setting?"

Before Photo

Yard at a Glance
Location: Kirkland, WA (near Seattle)
Size: ~1 acre

The bulkhead created turbulence, preventing wave energy dissipation and eliminating shoreline plant life. Broadhurst's vision: native plants, a family-friendly pool, a reclaimed beach. To sell it, he kayaked the owners and their grandchildren to Yellow Island Preserve in Puget Sound. The island's lush wildness won them over.

AFTER: A Shore Reborn

The multi-year transformation yielded a beach that appears timeless. Behind it: a negative-edge pool and a sweeping meadow mixing native and adapted non-natives — naturalistic, not manicured.

Inspired by Kandinsky's "Composition 8," Broadhurst composed curves and angles with artistic intention. The bulkhead was removed by barge-mounted crane. Pebbles, boulders, and salvaged logs were placed with an artist's eye — logs stapled into the bank like natural driftwood.

Now plants root at the water's edge. Freshwater crayfish visit. An otter has appeared.

Structures Reimagined

An existing boathouse was redesigned with architect Jeff Phillips. A dilapidated guesthouse was rebuilt and reoriented as an open, airy pavilion with sliding glass panels, fireplace, full kitchen, bath, and Pennsylvania bluestone floors.

An ipe walkway with stainless cross-members connects guesthouse to main house, traversing the pool. Angular pool geometry contrasts rolling meadow mounds. Boulders inscribed "Look before you leap" mark a jumping point. The infinity pool spills into a shallow, kid-friendly wading pool on a bluestone terrace.

The terrace's curved bluestone wall was custom-cut to follow Broadhurst's sketch, capped with sandblasted concrete. Roemer's fescue masses behind it.

A Meadow with Meaning

The meadow weaves through the site with Menzies' larkspur, Roemer's fescue, Oregon iris, wild stonecrops, camas species, and well-adapted non-natives like Japanese anemone 'Honorine Jobert'. Golden tufted hairgrass catches distant light.

The upper terrace remained, its seating wall capped in black granite echoing the pool's sheen. Jerusalem sage seedpods rise behind it.

Green Shores for Homes, a WA/BC shoreline restoration initiative, adopted this project as its pilot. "Referencing Yellow Island grounds the project in the region," Broadhurst says. "And for the owners, it gives the whole thing a deeper meaning."

More: Natural Swimming Pools: More Beauty, No Chemicals