Photography by Jason Varney

“We really try to live outside as much as we can, from early in May until late in October,” says Ann Stookey. Around her 136-year-old Chestnut Hill house faced with Wissahickon schist, she’s created an open-air home consisting of an informal back terrace, a side garden parlor, and a sophisticated outdoor porch, a warm-weather living room. Each space is planted with Ann’s vision of a “French-influenced 21st-century garden” and is uniquely suited to relaxing and entertaining. “I wanted something highly stylized, with emphasis on architecture and texture,” she says. Contemporary lines and a simple color palette with flashes of orange and purple define the landscape.

View the slideshow here.