The Garden Club of Frankfort has chosen the home of Solitaire and Stephen Wix as Frankfort’s House of the Month. Homes are chosen based on outstanding landscape design.
The Wix home sits at the end of a quiet lane on the east side of Frankfort. The house was built at the top of a steep slope. Running along the front of their yard is a picturesque old stone wall. A stunning grand staircase lined in stone and beautifully landscaped with an abundance of trees and shrubs provides the perfect path to the front door. Two large stone planters are located on either side of the lower section of the staircase and are planted with green mountain boxwoods and red and purple annuals. At the top of the staircase stone planters frame the front door overflowing with more greenery and white and red annuals.
The front landscaping is centered on the staircase and includes Hawthorne trees, Otto Luyken Laurels, green velvet boxwood shrubs, golden mops and burning bush.
The landscaping design takes advantage of the slope by adding interest with unique hardscape. Several stone walls adorn the property to accommodate the steep slope and sit at different elevations giving the property a great deal of character.
On the right side of the house a concrete patio designed for entertaining leads from the basement bar. More stone walls, shrubs and a river birch give the patio a sense of privacy. A path leads up the slope to the back of the house and another spacious patio. The focal point of this patio is a large stone firepit.
A rock garden was designed to support irrigation and adds contrast to the many flowers that bloom throughout the year.
From the back yard of the house, the family enjoys the solitude of farmland surrounded by a wooden fence that extends around their property. A favorite feature is the pergola swing, a perfect place to relax and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.
During the seven years they have lived in their home, a large variety of plants have been added to the landscape. Some of the most treasured were given to them after the passing of their 10-year-old daughter. Their daughter’s favorite color was purple and caring and gracious friends gave them plants to honor her memory. These plants include a dogwood, a Bloomerang Lilac that blooms in the spring and fall and next to the garage is a large common lilac that fills the air with a magnificent fragrance in the spring.
The liriope planted around the front sidewalk was transplanted from Solitaire’s family home and displays a beautiful purple bloom in the late summer/early fall. A memorial garden features a wisteria vine on a trellis that produces stunning purple clusters in the spring.
Solitaire and Stephen say that they feel they are truly blessed to have such a perfect place to live, entertain and raise their children.
