Tarses Pond
Landscape Design

Williamstown, Massachusetts
1994-1995

The owners viewed their newly constructed pond as an eyesore. Its 120’ diameter circular form, utilitarian grading and lack of vegetation produced an unintended crater effect. DDA was commissioned to make this pond more accessible to its owners and more amenable to its Berkshire location. DDA’s design features fieldstone steps circling toward a gently graded hillside turf walk. The walk terminates at a fieldstone terrace, tucked into the slope with a dry laid stone seat wall. Broad steps lead swimmers down from the terrace into the water. The pond edge itself is modified with native aquatic plants and other native species, which blend into surrounding vegetation patterns. A future wooden pier will further modify the pond edge.