Alexandria Donati and Jonathan Chesley’s Rockaway Beach Garden

New Yorkers who discover Rockaway Beach, the sandy peninsula at the end of the A train, tend to fall in love. Alexandria Donati and Jonathan Chesley, the husband and wife duo behind Ktisma Studio, were among those who appreciated the charms of the beach-meets-urban setting. The couple first visited Rockaway Beach more than a decade ago when their friends began buying up houses on a block where 1920s bungalows had survived development. In 2017, Donati and Chesley finally got a chance to buy their own bungalow in the community, and perhaps equally important to Donati, who is a landscape architect, the tiny yard that came along with it.

Over time Rockaway’s original wooden boardwalks have been replaced with concrete, and Donati and Chesley’s yard was no exception. “When we moved in there was an old privet shrub growing on a fence line, a pile of debris, and a lot of concrete,” says Donati. So, the first order of business was to remove concrete to make way for planting beds and to replace and repair fences. (Donati had already been on a years-long campaign to convince friends to rip up their concrete. “I told them I would help them plant it if they just jack-hammered it out,” she says.)

Since buying the property, Donati has experimented with the planting and carved out distinct gardens within the petite lot. In front, the west-facing garden has a warm palette inspired by the sunsets; there’s a rambling berry patch along the side of the house; and the back garden, which is all about scent, even includes an area rug-sized stretch of lawn. Pots of herbs and flowers are scattered everywhere. 

Donati has been strategic about using plants to both conceal and reveal views from their small yard. Espaliered fruit trees, for example, soften the border between neighboring yards and an elderberry hides an unattractive deck. String lights and a shade sail that they hang in the summer help to enhance the feeling of enclosure, while matchstick blinds add privacy (and shade) to the front porch. “There’s a giant apartment building that says ‘luxury condos’ nearby, but that’s New York City life,” says Donati. “Even in a Brooklyn brownstone, you could have the nicest house and garden, but you can’t change what surrounds you.”