The retaining walls for this Deephaven home were one of our largest projects to-date in terms of raw steel tonnage, and an incredible demonstration of the way steel can extend the strong lines of a modern building into the landscape.

Using cor-ten steel for retaining walls offers a number of advantages over concrete or stone. One of which is the minimal footings required for such inherently strong wall systems. Fewer footings means minimal disturbance to nearby trees. In addition, we were able to create matching stair risers to contain black locust pavers within a thin, concise border.

The front patio and auto court were already encircled by a cast-in-place concrete wall, which we were able to clad in a matching cor-ten facia with paper-thin panel seams and zero exposed fasteners.

Several years later, we got a call back to add the same type of freestanding steel walls and facia to an addition, which offered new challenges with sloped walls and odd angles, but careful planning and experienced hands allowed us to take it on with complete confidence. Our welder Noah is seen above grinding welds down on a few un-weathered panels.