Certified Sustainable Landscape Professional
G3 Certification Program
Writer & Producer, Ecology Global Network
Chief Correspondent, Europe, Perennial Productions, Inc.
"Perhaps my earliest memories are of the garden of my childhood. I remember the heady fragrance of Narcissus in Spring, as I rolled in the tall grass under the crabapple tree. I remember the pungent, earthy odor of moist oak leaves in fall, and Dad threading a hose down the gopher hole, thinking he might save Mom's Daphne Odora from otherwise certain doom. As always, our little friend would tauntingly pop his head up from yet another hole, just yards away. I remember climbing as high as I could in the walnuts, and watching the redwoods my Dad planted reach dizzying heights in just a few years. And there was a treehouse, not much more than a platform, perched among the limbs of an acacia . . . from here, I could survey my realm.
My first exposure to architecture came when my brother Scott, UC Berkeley graduate in Architecture and 9 years my senior, designed a home for my family, a post and beam which garnered the Architectural Beautification Award In Los Altos Hills for its harmony with its natural environment. We called it the "Tree House," because the home sat high in the embrace of magnificently noble oaks, whose limbs seemed to reach into the largely glass structure. Living in these trees, where the boundary between interior living and the natural world feathered like a watercolor, not only shaped my design sensibilities, but made it difficult to live in a space that was not in intimate exchange with nature -- trees in particular. I suppose this was the beginning . . . "
Lynn Scott-Smith lives in the arty Los Angeles hillside community of Mt. Washington, stomping grounds of the late, beloved Los Angeles Times columnist Jack Smith. She and her husband, Richard Smith, recording artist and Professor of Music at the University of Southern California, also have a home in the San Juan Islands, north of Seattle.
Lynn credits architect James Delong, Apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright and Fellow of Taliesin, with encouraging her in her design career. "Jim's mentoring counts among the greatest gifts of my life. His belief in my innate ability gave me the courage to take on what I may never have had the confidence to do." Mr. Delong may still be seen visiting Lynn's garden design projects. Lynn also counts among her advisors Jan Vandenbulck, sought-after landscape architect in Savannah, Georgia. She says she feels Jan's guiding hand, even from afar.
Bachelor of Science, Human Development, University of California, Davis, Magna Cum Laude
Continuing Studies: Masters/PhD, Mythological Studies, Pacifica Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara
Previous Professions: Vocalist, 15 Years; Real Estate, 7 years
Born & Raised: San Francisco Bay Area