Graham Landscape Architecture Completes Additions to Blackberry Farm - New Dining and Guest Accommodations Enrich Inn’s Rural, Historic Appeal
Annapolis, MD, January 30, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Graham Landscape Architecture (www.grahamlandarch.com) is announcing the completion of two significant additions to Blackberry Farm (www.blackberryfarm.com), one of America's top-rated resorts, celebrated as much for it pastoral setting as its gourmet locally-sourced cuisine and luxury accommodations. Nestled in the foothills of the idyllic Smokey Mountains, the 4,200-acre Blackberry Farm is consistently ranked among America’s finest small hotels by Zagat’s and has been featured in Gourmet magazine.
Blackberry Farm’s most cherished amenity is its location in one of the most beautiful, unspoiled pockets of the Southeastern United States. Guests enjoy an array of outdoor activities, including whitewater rafting, fly-fishing, hot air ballooning, mountain biking, and hiking. Blackberry Farm is also a working farm providing homegrown produce, meats and cheeses for its world-class restaurant. Blackberry has become famous in the gourmet community for its exclusive dining events, cooking demonstrations and fundraisers, featuring the finest chefs and vintners from around the country.
With Blackberry Farm’s success, the farm’s owners and operators, the Beall family, recognized the need to expand and upgrade facilities. Their goal was to accommodate the increasing popularity of the farm’s special programs, while maintaining the level of experience that their guests expect. Jay Graham, principal of Graham Landscape Architecture developed site plans to ensure that the farmstead and the construction of new guest cottages would have minimal impact on the natural beauty of the woodlands and meadows and fit in with the intimacy of the surroundings.
The challenge for Graham was to create site plans that incorporated modern facilities and luxury accommodations while retaining the resort’s rural appeal. Graham’s goal was to leave an unstudied light touch. Plantings of native trees, shrubs, and wild flowers highlight the Smokey Mountain setting.
“Whether it was the cottage in the woods or farmstead in the meadow, our guiding principle was to observe the setting we were given and make the buildings blend-in, so that each looks as though its been there a long time,” said Graham. “The result is an ‘inevitable’ quality - when people visit Blackberry and ask what we did, we know we have succeeded.”
Guests enter the property on an unassuming road that opens to reveal an idyllic landscape surrounded by acres of woods and pasture. The result for guests is a sense of arrival that sets the theme for the relaxing, refreshing days ahead.
Graham’s engagement included the development of the farmstead near Blackberry’s expanse of vegetable gardens, complete with a barn and historic farm buildings. Brought in from Pennsylvania, the historic barn houses Blackberry’s renowned restaurant, wine cellar and culinary classrooms. The farmstead, now one of the focal points of the property, was recently featured in Gourmet magazine. Graham created a cart path through the woods connecting the original grounds of the estate with the new facilities.
Construction services on the Blackberry project were provided by Hickory Construction, Inc. of Alcoa, Tenn. Jeffery Burden was the architect for the barn and Spitzmiller Norris were the architects for the cottages.
About Blackberry Farm
Blackberry Farm – often described as “Easy to get to. Hard to leave.” is located in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. This 63-room Relais & Chateaux and Relais Gourmand property offers some of the world’s finest wines, cuisine, fly fishing, horseback riding, hiking, cycling, sporting clay and mountain biking opportunities. In addition to an abundance of outdoor activities, Blackberry Farm offers an Aveda-Destination Spa and a series of annual cooking schools and culinary events along with other world-renowned guest chefs and vintners.
About Graham Landscape Architecture
Founded in 1984 by Jay Graham, FASLA, Graham Landscape Architecture crafts classic landscapes for urban, country and waterfront estates, and historic properties. Headquartered in historic Annapolis, Maryland, with a branch office in Abingdon, Virginia, the firm's primary concentration lies within the mid-Atlantic Coastal and Piedmont regions. For more information, please visit www.grahamlandarch.com.
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Blackberry Farm’s most cherished amenity is its location in one of the most beautiful, unspoiled pockets of the Southeastern United States. Guests enjoy an array of outdoor activities, including whitewater rafting, fly-fishing, hot air ballooning, mountain biking, and hiking. Blackberry Farm is also a working farm providing homegrown produce, meats and cheeses for its world-class restaurant. Blackberry has become famous in the gourmet community for its exclusive dining events, cooking demonstrations and fundraisers, featuring the finest chefs and vintners from around the country.
With Blackberry Farm’s success, the farm’s owners and operators, the Beall family, recognized the need to expand and upgrade facilities. Their goal was to accommodate the increasing popularity of the farm’s special programs, while maintaining the level of experience that their guests expect. Jay Graham, principal of Graham Landscape Architecture developed site plans to ensure that the farmstead and the construction of new guest cottages would have minimal impact on the natural beauty of the woodlands and meadows and fit in with the intimacy of the surroundings.
The challenge for Graham was to create site plans that incorporated modern facilities and luxury accommodations while retaining the resort’s rural appeal. Graham’s goal was to leave an unstudied light touch. Plantings of native trees, shrubs, and wild flowers highlight the Smokey Mountain setting.
“Whether it was the cottage in the woods or farmstead in the meadow, our guiding principle was to observe the setting we were given and make the buildings blend-in, so that each looks as though its been there a long time,” said Graham. “The result is an ‘inevitable’ quality - when people visit Blackberry and ask what we did, we know we have succeeded.”
Guests enter the property on an unassuming road that opens to reveal an idyllic landscape surrounded by acres of woods and pasture. The result for guests is a sense of arrival that sets the theme for the relaxing, refreshing days ahead.
Graham’s engagement included the development of the farmstead near Blackberry’s expanse of vegetable gardens, complete with a barn and historic farm buildings. Brought in from Pennsylvania, the historic barn houses Blackberry’s renowned restaurant, wine cellar and culinary classrooms. The farmstead, now one of the focal points of the property, was recently featured in Gourmet magazine. Graham created a cart path through the woods connecting the original grounds of the estate with the new facilities.
Construction services on the Blackberry project were provided by Hickory Construction, Inc. of Alcoa, Tenn. Jeffery Burden was the architect for the barn and Spitzmiller Norris were the architects for the cottages.
About Blackberry Farm
Blackberry Farm – often described as “Easy to get to. Hard to leave.” is located in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. This 63-room Relais & Chateaux and Relais Gourmand property offers some of the world’s finest wines, cuisine, fly fishing, horseback riding, hiking, cycling, sporting clay and mountain biking opportunities. In addition to an abundance of outdoor activities, Blackberry Farm offers an Aveda-Destination Spa and a series of annual cooking schools and culinary events along with other world-renowned guest chefs and vintners.
About Graham Landscape Architecture
Founded in 1984 by Jay Graham, FASLA, Graham Landscape Architecture crafts classic landscapes for urban, country and waterfront estates, and historic properties. Headquartered in historic Annapolis, Maryland, with a branch office in Abingdon, Virginia, the firm's primary concentration lies within the mid-Atlantic Coastal and Piedmont regions. For more information, please visit www.grahamlandarch.com.
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Contact
Graham Landscape Architecture
Nancy Carr
(410) 971-0668
www.grahamlandarch.com
Nancy Carr
(410) 971-0668
www.grahamlandarch.com
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