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taken in part from March edition of 805 Living, written by Leslie A. Westbrook

Many who have enjoyed the work of James Dean (the Thousand Oaks based Landscape Architect, not the actor) are probably unaware of it's creator.

That's not surprising, considering James Dean's soft spoken, self-effacing manner. Nevertheless, this award winning designer of exterior forms and flora has shaped the outdoors in numerous public spaces, including shopping plazas, civic centers, parks and hotels such as The Princess Hotel in Acapulco, as well as private residences throughout Southern California.

The Cal Poly graduate is up at 4 a.m. and in his office by 5 a.m. most days, often working until midnight. Amazingly, for the past two and a half years, James has found time to volunteer his time at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

As it's resident landscape architect, he designed the south lawn area, which is patterned after the grounds of the White House. It is within this area that the Ronald Reagan Memorial is located and it's also the future site for a replica of the White House Fountain.

"I prefer not to be pigeonholed. I like to keep my fingers in everything", says this versatile designer recently while being interviewed for the March edition of 805 Living Magazine. James Dean has also traveled Europe for many years, seeking inspiration for his work, the bulk of which has been, until recently, public spaces. "I like to work across the board, he adds," he adds, "and I don't like to do the same thing over and over and over. That's what's fun about new residential projects."

And those private-residence projects include some jewels.

There's the former Dean Martin Estate - a 62 acre ranch (12 acres of the Estate are landscaped) in Hidden Valley - now owned by a well known actor. Then there's perfumer Fred Hayman's two acre property, which lies 65 landscaping budgets reaching upwards of two million dollars.

"I love being in this field," says James Dean, who admits to spending a huge amount of time in the great outdoors.

The Thousand Oaks resident is quick to give credit to people he has worked with, including General Contractors, Soil Engineers, Sculptures, and Trades People - as well as his own staff. Dean has a team composed of seven associates - talented men and women alike - including an Architect who once worked for world famous Japanese-American Sculpture Isamu Noguchi.

Dean has created public spaces for uber developer Rick Caruso's shopping, dining and entertainment centers including The Promenade at Westlake, The Commons at Calabasas, The Grove at Farmers market, The Village at Moorpark just to name a few. He's more likely to sing the praises of clients such as Caruso, however than to toot his own horn.

"Rick Caruso is a great human being," Dean says with admiration. "He has an incredible ability as a consensus maker. He brings talented people together and orchestrates projects like a band leader."

Dean adds that developers such as Caruso give tremendous leeway, but also push people to do their very best. "Developers such as Rick Caruso have a great sense of design, lots of confidence in people, and have great ideas. Rick also has a stick-to-it-ness to make things happen. He is very generous and has a kind mind...he knows where he wants to go with his projects."

The Promenade at Westlake, a 22 acre site located on the corner of Westlake and Thousand Oaks Boulevard, is a Caruso Affiliated Holdings project built in the round, drawing inspiration from Italy's plazas. Computerized water displays, conceptualized by the Landscape Architecture firm of James Dean ASLA create a sense of energy. Fountains and babbling brooks lend to a large koi-filled pond that delights visitors young and old alike.

"Caruso's philosophy is to build entertainment centers that are family-friendly," Dean states. "A place where a family can go to the movies, buy an ice cream, and, of course, spend money

The firm of James Dean ASLA loves to execute Caruso's vision of exposing the public to art in various forms throughout his developments.

In fact, Dean helped select the nine bronze sculptures commissioned by Caruso, including the "Joy to Life" fountain at The Promenade at Westlake and the whimsical statue inspired by Huckleberry Finn at The Commons at Calabasas. Both were created by Westlake Sculpture De L'Esprie.

The firm of James Dean ASLA specializes in integrating water features throughout our designs and Dean has traveled throughout Europe documenting Fountains which have inspired his own creations.

Take for instance, the two tired hand carved limestone fountain-inspired by Dean's travels to Italy-located in front of marmalade Café in Westlake Village. This is one water feature that had a rather unique journey to it's home.

"We originally pursued having my design carved in Italy, but instead we decided to have it carved by hand in Mexico. The stone came from the hillside of a small farm without electricity about 200 miles from Guadalajara," recalls James Dean. "It was approximately seven feet by seven feet in diameter, and about three feet thick for this particular piece of raw stone, and there was no transportation available to get it down the mountain."

The industrious Mexican artisans chose to roll the heavy stone to the edge of the mountain and pushed it downhill, carve this beautiful fountain, and with the help of the firm at James Dean ASLA, it was delivered to its new home in Westlake, California.

The Commons at Calabasas, also about 22 acres in size, was a more lineal-yet difficult-project to execute due to a 50 foot slope in the lands elevation from one end of the property to the other. "It was very challenging," recalls Dean. Despite the project's complexities, Dean and his team managed to pepper the nearly half-mile-long promenade that winds through the subtly expanding and contracting baroque spaces with unique features including a 4,000 gallon per minute waterfall that feeds small rivers and brooks, Two Hundred Year Old Sculptures of the four seasons made of Vicenza Sandstone that were purchased in France, the purportedly largest Rolex watch in the world which graces the clock tower, 1500 rose bushes, and the 35-foot high California redwood tree brought to the site from the Busch Gardens.

James Dean also designed the public space for The Village at Moorpark, a small busy shopping center located at Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Moorpark Road in the city of Thousand Oaks, California.

Beyond high-end residential and commercial projects, Professor Dean also finds time to teach a class at Cal State Northridge's School of Extended Learning, and is known statewide for his knowledge of and efforts toward the conservation of native California Oak Trees.

To date, we have preserved more than 36,000 native oak trees," the firm says with pride.

That preservation includes the the recent controversial transplanting of a 165 ton, 350 year old specimen. The move of this tree, only 300 feet away from it's original location, required a pair of 75 ton cranes working together. But the move of this tree saved a living treasure, which makes us proud of the work we do.

"Landscape Architects don't have many rules," says this father of five and grandfather to 10, who in the early years of his 38-year-long career, would "hang around" soil engineers, architects, contractors, and nurseries, learning the basics while refining his love for design.

"The reason I think we are a successful firm," says James Dean, "is that we don't have a particular style. We don't do just Tuscan or Spanish. We can do it all. Our designs are quietly elegant. When someone walks on a site and experiences our work, everything blends together as a cohesive unit and nothing stands out (unless we intend to make it stand out). Design is a patient search for form and content."

When interviewed recently for 805 Living magazine, James Dean concluded by saying "Provide a sense of place and people will come".

Tips and Favorites from James Dean ASLA

Garden Tip: When designing your garden, begin by developing a plant palette.
Design Tip: Develop a concept before you begin to design. The most important thing in real estate is location, location, location. The most important thing in Landscape Design is concept, concept, concept.
Favorite Plant: I don't have a favorite tree or shrub; every plant I use is my favorite.
Favorite Nursery: Treeland Nursery in Woodland Hills, California
Favorite Gardens Around The World: My favorite garden of all is the Villa D'Este, a water garden outside of Rome. (Dean also cites the prototype for Disneyland, Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, as very unique and he loves the flamboyant French Gardens of Versailles.)
Favorite Cities: Granada and Sevilla, Spain; and Paris France.
Favorite Places To Travel: I love Italy
Favorite Restaurant: Tuscany Restaurant in Westlake Village, California.

Note: Many of the photos which represent the work of James Dean ASLA were taken by members of the firm, and additional contributions were made by Olwyn Kingery, and Jan Dyer, to name a few. Victor Perederi of Stone Creek Landworks provided the panoramic photos for both the 805 Living article, as well as the photos which James Dean ASLA used to win the 2004 Award for best pool design for the Daggs residence. Stone Creek Landworks does the land and waterscape development for many of James Dean's projects. You can see more of their award winning work at www.StoneCreekLandworks.com

Recent additions to our site, JamesDeanDesign.com include our new photo gallery section, as well as our growing Plant Catalog section, where our visitors can view many of the plants we use in our projects.

On behalf of the staff at James Dean ASLA, we thank you for taking the time to view our work and we hope you will re-visit our site often to see some of the new and innovative features we will be adding to our portfolio in the coming months.