Renowned landscape architect Christopher LaGuardia’s first book pays homage to 30 years of incredible work and environmental stewardship in Montauk, Water Mill, Bridgehampton and more.

The award-winning Seaside project in Sagaponack.

Christopher LaGuardia’s esteemed architecture firm, LaGuardia Design Group, has been executing incredible work in the Hamptons for the past 30 years, and this year, the firm is releasing its first-ever coffee-table book, titled Contemporary Gardens of the Hamptons: LaGuardia Design Group 1990-2020 (Monacelli).

The cover of Contemporary Gardens of the Hamptons: LaGuardia Design Group 1990-2020

Providing a diversion from the woes of the pandemic, the tome takes readers through a series of projects the firm has completed in the Hamptons throughout its time on the scene.

A sleek design by LDG from its Seaside project.

“With the pandemic still part of our life, our book offers a wonderful read and an escape as you page through all the projects,” LaGuardia notes. “It’s as if you are on a garden tour.” On top of the innovative designs the firm has created, the book catalogs LaGuardia’s history of environmental stewardship through creative grading, planting native species and stitching structures onto the natural environment of the Hamptons, ensuring the land takes precedence over the construction.

This environmental consciousness is what sets his work apart from that of his contemporaries; he has a focus on addressing the issues of climate change directly through his architecture. LaGuardia’s eco-conscious innovations are present in designs chronicled in the text. “One of the more prominent elements in our landscapes is the use of tall grass meadows. Not only does this speak to and benefit the natural environment but also offers a wonderful kinetic aesthetic to the properties we work on.

Pristine feature from LDG’s Country Garden project in Bridgehampton.

We have been a proponent of reducing large mowed lawns for some time now, and it’s really caught on,” LaGuardia explains.

LDG’s Modern Retreat project in Sagaponack won a 2018 East End Design Award.

Part of the greatness of the work comes through these environmentally sound decisions that are seen throughout its projects, and it sets the tome apart from your simple coffeetable accessory. LaGuardia’s work is out of respect to the landscape, and that devotion to the natural land is portrayed throughout Contemporary Gardens of the Hamptons. As LaGuardia states to clients in his motto, “We don’t decorate, we integrate,” and you’re wise to integrate this book into your collection. It’s well worth it.

A shot from the firm’s gorgeous Mecox Point project in Water Mill