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Long before computer-generated plans and digital renderings became the norm, Palo Alto landscape architect Mary Gordon drew her gardens by hand — shaping curves with a practiced eye and an instinct for nature that no ruler could replicate. It was a technique she never abandoned.
Her philosophy was simple: “If you want to capture some of the real qualities of nature, you can’t do it with a compass, T-square and triangle.”
Over a career that spanned seven decades, Gordon designed more than 1,000 gardens across the Bay Area. One of the earliest licensed landscape architects in California, she became known for creating spaces that felt less like constructed environments and more like living landscapes, blurring the line between nature and design. Her work was frequently featured in Sunset Magazine and other publications, and by the 1970s and ’80s, a “Mary Gordon garden” had become a selling point in its own right, highlighted in sales listings in neighborhoods like Atherton Meadows and Palo Alto’s Crescent Park, Charleston Gardens and Green Acres.
March 13 would have marked Gordon’s 100th birthday, underscoring a legacy still visible in residential landscapes across the region.
One of the most intact examples of that legacy is in Atherton, in a garden Gordon designed more than 40 years ago.
A garden revisited
Located at the end of a cul-de-sac near Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club, the 1.14-acre property has remained largely unchanged, a rarity for private residential landscapes of its era.
On March 13, Gordon’s daughter, Ruth Gordon, returned to the site for the first time in decades, revisiting a garden she remembers taking shape under her mother’s hand.
The property itself was selected with Gordon’s guidance, and she collaborated closely with the architect to ensure the Colonial-style home and surrounding landscape developed as a cohesive whole.
What defines a Mary Gordon garden
- Flowing curves — Paths, patios, and plantings follow hand-drawn lines
- Hardscape “bones” — Brickwork shapes movement and structure
- Borrowed views — Distant trees, hills and open space expand the property
- Layered plantings — Trees, shrubs and ground cover add depth
- Craftsmanship — Subtle details make spaces feel cohesive and comfortable
- Designed for experience — Pathways, elevations and focal points guide exploration
The result: Nothing feels forced, yet nothing is accidental. Brick pathways, walls and edges guide movement through the space, while layered plantings create a sense of calm and privacy.
In the backyard, the landscape opens subtly toward redwood trees and distant hills, with only glimpses of the adjacent golf course — a carefully framed view that suggests openness without sacrificing seclusion. The effect draws the surrounding landscape inward, making the space feel larger than it is.
“That level of detail required extraordinary craftsmanship,” said Ruth Gordon, also a landscape architect.
At the Atherton garden, every curve was drawn by hand and translated on site by skilled masons and contractors. The brickwork — a defining feature of many of Gordon’s designs — allows for those smooth, flowing lines, but only through precise cutting and careful placement so transitions feel seamless.
“There’s a real sense of calm,” said Compass Realtor Diane Kneis, who arranged the garden visit. “It draws you in.”
That feeling of being quietly pulled through a space was central to Gordon’s work.
Her work is more than aesthetics, Ruth Gordon said.
“It’s about how people feel in a space, how they move through it, where their eyes rest and what draws them forward,”she said. “Her gardens weren’t meant to impress at a glance, but to reveal themselves slowly.”
“There’s always a destination,” she added. “Always something drawing you out.”
The approach held true regardless of scale.
In a smaller Palo Alto garden, Gordon fit an array of elements into a quarter-acre lot — fruit trees, a pond with a waterfall, an exercise pool, a chicken coop, a grilling area and more than a dozen African sculptures. Yet the space never feels crowded. Instead, it unfolds gradually, reinforcing what clients often described as the difference between a “yard” and a true garden.
Gordon worked closely with clients, often designing multiple landscapes for the same families as they moved homes. She tailored each project to its architecture, with particular attention to how it would be seen from inside. Windows became frames and the garden an extension of the home, an early expression of California’s indoor-outdoor living. In many cases, views extended into nearly every room.
From geometry to organic form
Born in 1926, Gordon entered the University of California, Berkeley, at 17 and graduated in 1947 with a degree in landscape architecture, a relatively new field at the time.
She trained with the influential San Francisco firm Eckbo, Royston and Williams, pioneers of modern landscape design. Her early work reflected that training, with clean, geometric lines.
In 1951, she established her own full-service practice in Palo Alto, specializing in residential gardens, an uncommon path for a woman during that era. Over the years, her designs evolved into more fluid, expressive compositions she described as “organic spaces,” shaped by freeform curves rather than rigid geometry.
Hardscape, the underlying structure of a landscape, remained central to her approach, quietly directing movement and shaping how a space is experienced.
“It’s supposed to feel natural,” Ruth Gordon said, “but it’s actually very carefully designed.”
At the Atherton garden, that philosophy unfolds in layers. A blooming crab apple tree anchors the front yard, while curved brick pathways guide movement through the landscape. A rose garden introduces a more structured, English-inspired element, softened and integrated into the broader design.
Elsewhere, a gazebo sits at a higher elevation, reached by a winding hillside path inspired by Lombard Street in San Francisco — a destination designed to encourage movement and exploration. The pool, partially hidden between the house and a pool house, reflects another hallmark of Gordon’s work: careful control of what is revealed and what is concealed.
She often would use plantings and thoughtful design to hide the unsightly, but completely necessary things gardens require: compost piles, garbage and recycling cans, tools and supplies and a potting area, according to Ruth Gordon.
“These details are what make it feel comfortable,” Ruth Gordon said. “You don’t necessarily notice them, but you feel them.”
While the plantings at the Atherton garden have evolved over the decades, the underlying structure continues to guide how the space is experienced — a testament to both the design and its careful stewardship.
“The property has a way of transporting you somewhere special,” said the homeowners, who worked with Gordon on the design and still own the property. “What she created became a place where … family gathered and unforgettable memories were made.”
Standing in the garden again on what would have been her mother’s 100th birthday, Ruth Gordon saw the same ideas still at work.
The space unfolds slowly. Paths lead forward. Views reveal themselves in stages.
Decades later, the garden still draws people in just as it was designed to do.
A lasting influence
Beyond her design work, Gordon played a significant civic role, serving as chair of the Palo Alto Planning Commission from 1965 to 1980 and advocating for open space preservation in the Baylands and foothills.
She continued working into her 90s, designing gardens until 2018.
“She absolutely loved her work,” Ruth Gordon said. “She never really retired. It was her passion and life force.”
Gordon died in 2021 at 95, leaving a legacy that continues to shape how people experience outdoor spaces.
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