Focus — The Pros at Home
For Bob and Robbi Hursthouse Home is a Rural Oasis Nina A. Koziol
When I first met Bob and RobbiHursthousein their Naperville garden 15 years ago, I was struck by the landscape behind their split-level house. I felt like I was in the Northwoods. Evergreens, a pond, a small outdoor kitchen, the tree house their son Scott used when he was little…it was the most peaceful, simple garden I’d ever stood in and it didn’t feel like the suburbs at all. I told Bob I had expected to see great big beds of perennials and that’s when he laughed and said, “The last thing I want to do when I get home from work is deadhead daylilies.” I’d taken design classes with Bob at The Morton Arboretum and then it clicked. Bob designed his garden the same way he does for his clients — based on how his family intended to use the space. Being avid outdoor lovers (Bob and Robbi have travelled to the
Apostle Islands for decades, camping and kayaking) that garden was their staycation — one where they could relax and enjoy their privacy. But when they were moving eight years ago to Newark, Illinois, their neighbors asked, “What will you do out there?” When not working long hours, there’s no shortage of things to do on the 1.2acre property, which is near the Fox River and the Kendall County Forest Preserve. “We didn’t do a typical downsize — we went the other way,” says Bob, past president of ILCA and a landscape architect who co-founded the landscape firm Hursthouse with Robbi in 1990. His office is in Bolingbrook and he has clients throughout the greater Chicago metropolitan area. (continued on page 20)
Robbi and Bob Hursthouse’s garden is a lower-maintenance pollinator paradise meant for relaxation. The Landscape Contractor 18 February 2022
