Submitted by Tom and Gale
We decided to do a major landscaping project of our front and back yards including updating our pool, changing the hardscape, adding an outdoor kitchen and a trellis to create more outdoor living space. After interviewing several companies we decided to hire John Montgomery Designs to create our dream. Initial meetings were done virtually so that the company would get to know us and what we were looking for in our design. They had many great suggestions but always looked to incorporate our desires so that the plan was unique to us. the plans were redone several times to accommodate changes by us as well as their suggestions. They also used a virtual reality tool so we could envision the final product–that was exciting! We are so pleased with the final product. We are using our backyard more than ever for entertaining, family get togethers and just the 2 of us as we are retired. The yard is so functional and absolutely beautiful. John Montgomery Designs is a team concept with different talented people coming together with the client to create your dream. They were very professional and easy to work with and very responsive when we contacted them. Weekly onsite meetings also helped the whole project stay on track and kept us in the loop as to where the project stood. We would highly recommend John Montgomery Designs as an excellent company that creates beautiful outdoor spaces that will make you say, “I love my yard!”.

Our yard went from being cramped and awkwardly laid out to spacious and welcoming with the reimagining of JW Montgomery Designs. We could have never figured it out on our own and it has become one of our favorite hangout spaces. We liked it so much we recommended them to our friends who also hired them. We can’t wait to see what they did for them!

We were stuck in a rut with our yard, and did not know what to do. We had a couple of key issues that needed to be fixed. We were pleasantly surprised that the design was 99% right from the very beginning; plus it fixed all of our previous problems. Clearly their process works!

John and Cynthia were a pleasure to work with from start to finish during the conceptual design phase. They were both very responsive, receptive, fun, and intuitive in interpreting our wants/needs. Our finished landscape design plan definitely exceeded our expectations. We have not yet executed on the design plan but very much look forward to the time we do, and are confident the backyard will look spectacular and function flawlessly when completed. We would highly recommend J Montgomery Designs to anyone!

John came to us with great recommendation 5 years ago when we needed to hire a landscape architect for our new home. He is a great listener, always available for questions and is flexible in his approach of landscaping. He is always genuine and is respectful of the need, taste and budget constraint of his clients. He turned our landscape dream into reality. Our backyard was inspired by a trip to the Alhambra in south of Spain, and John turned our vision into reality.
Throughout the last 5 years, our front and backyards received many praises from our neighbors. Much of the credit goes to John and his team. Without their dedication, our garden will not be the paradise of today.

We interviewed them years ago, but the timing wasn’t right for us. Their remote design process is very interactive. I was surprised at how effective and handy the Zoom meetings were. I have to say, they have it down pat! Also, everyone on the team was really easy to work with – nice people. The final design is beautiful (of course). Strongly Recommend J. Montgomery Designs

We were referred to them for our good friends, which is always nice. Funny story…we went through 98% of the design process and then decided to move! They were gracious and sincerely happy for us and we have hired them again for our new home and would recommend them to anyone. Oh– our friends who suggested them, have since moved as well and have hired them for their new home. What can I say, one sticks with a sure bet — 5 stars!

My family worked with Montgomery Designs after purchasing a home in Lafayette with a yard of about one acre. Moving from the inner East Bay, we’d never before had to manage a yard of that size and need help figuring out what to do with a lush but overgrown yard. Working with Cynthia and John helped us to figure out a comprehensive strategy. After commissioning a land survey, John worked up a wonderful design that helped us to understand our new property, to get a clear sense for what the costs of various improvements would be, and to differentiate more urgent from less urgent tasks. While we ended up prioritizing interior renovations (i.e. a new kitchen) over exterior renewal, Montgomery Designs has given us a terrific longer-term blueprint for the renovation of our new yard. Learning from Cynthia and John about the varieties of contractors with whom we might work has also been enormously useful: we learned a lot about the costs of different kinds of solutions and have, as a result, been able to make much wiser decisions than we would otherwise have made about how to spend limited funds. If money were no constraint, being able to realize the vision that John developed over a 6-12 month timeframe would have been an exciting and transformative prospect. But working with John and Cynthia to devise a longer-term, budget-constrained strategy for the yard has been just as useful and exercise—and every bit as valuable a use of our time and funds. We’d highly recommend the Montgomerys to all kinds of prospective clients: whether finances are a constraint or not, their deep insight, knowledge, and empathy will be an immensely helpful source of strategic guidance for all exterior projects.

We hired J. Montgomery 10 years ago for a complete front and backyard design. We have completed our project in phases and are now finishing up with our pool. Although we already had a complete set of plans, we recently circled back to J. Montgomery because our tastes have changed and we wish to update our design.

My husband and I feel a sense of relief having J. Montgomery pick everything out for us. With all of the decisions we have to make on a day-to-day basis, it is so much easier being told what we should do! We can rest assured that the finished product will be impeccable.

We knew that we would not complete our dream project all at once. Even so, we made the right decision to invest in a full set of plans. Each time we begin a new phase, we have a detailed set of plans to provide to bidding contractors. There is no guesswork or room for error due to J. Montgomery’s precision and detail.

We are so pleased with the attention we have received from J. Montgomery from beginning to end of our 10 year project and couldn’t be happier with our beautiful yard.

John and team are one of the best in the San Francisco Bay Area. We recommend them to everyone who asks. In fact, since completing our project and home two months ago, over a 100 people walking by the house have asked for the names of our designers and contractors hoping to replicate our beautiful home and landscape. J. Montgomery designs and plans are exceptional. Every detail you can imagine has been thought through. We have a 9,200 sq ft lot and their design turned our front and backyards into an amazing retreat. Everyone who visits says they haven’t seen a backyard and front yard like ours. My landscaper (who implemented John’s plans), said in 30 years of doing homes throughout Atherton, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto, this was by far the most amazing work he’s done for a lot of our size. Our general contractor who built our home (who has built some of the most amazing properties in the Bay Area peninsula) said our landscape is the best in a 20 mile radius. If you go with J. Montgomery Designs you will have to wait your turn in line to get their services, but the wait is worth it. The team’s knowledge of trees, plant species, colors, materials, and space planning is exceptional. We didn’t believe we could accomplish the seating, serenity, and vibe that was achieved with our landscape, but the team at J. Montgomery nailed it. Their use of stones, metals, woods, negative space, water fountains, pathways, and tons of detail and subtle choices transformed our land into a spectacular haven. Work with J. Montgomery and implement their designs perfectly and you’ll understand what we’re talking about.

I was sitting in my kitchen after a long day, sharing in a glass of wine with my wife, looking on my backyard and it hit me – holy cow – our backyard is just beautiful. I then started thinking on John and Cynthia. It was a bit shy of 10 years ago we hired J. Montgomery to fulfill our dream of a beautiful, thoughtful and very specific landscape for our home here in Livermore. We all poured our hearts into this and it has not failed a day since. In fact, it just gets better and better as it matures and evolves around us.

I reached out to them to touch bases and provide another thank you for everything they have given us. So I thought how appropriate it would be to leave a review. This one would not be shortly after the project was complete – one which is written with “honeymoon” eyes – but one with 10 years of love and appreciation behind it. John knows what he’s doing. His team executes perfectly. If we had to do it all over again we would in a moment with no one else.

I was skeptical about designing remotely. It didn’t seem possible to create a design that both my wife and I would love and felt was personal to our property. We made the right choice! I completely underestimated their efficiency & effectiveness. Their systems & communication are impressive: video journaling our property, detailed site specifications, door & window locations, etc. Everything worked seamlessly and now that the design process is complete, I can’t think of anything they missed. In fact, given we are very busy with work and family, their design process made it easy for us. Glad we ended up going with this firm.

We found the Montgomery team on Houzz and were pleasantly surprised with their personalized, virtual process. We never felt “on the clock”. They gave us all the time and attention we needed. Also, nothing got lost in translation. The final design and cost estimates were consistent with what we discussed. Our yard has a challenging steep slope. Because they did not see the property in person, at times we had to make adjustments based on the terrain as they were only using photos and an elevation survey. They also surprised us with some excellent design concepts we could not have imagined on our own. We found them to be extremely thorough, including with their contractor recommendation. They happily helped us find a contractor who suited our needs perfectly. We decided not to hire them for their construction document service (which was fine with them and with our contractor). Overall, we found them to be very responsive, friendly, creative and easy to work with: We would highly recommend them.

Dear J. Montgomery Team,
It’s been almost 4 years and the landscape project is all finished!! We can’t thank you enough for such a beautiful design! We really loved your contractor recommendations too. They have been invaluable. Life has changed suddenly for us and we are relocating but we’re quite sure the landscape is going to be the biggest selling point!! Thank you for everything!

We went back and forth on whether we should invest in a master landscape plan and now that we have worked with J Montgomery, we are so glad we did! We heard about their great reputation from friends and they delivered. Each team member was so great to work with and now we are able to phase out what we want to do as budget allows. Professionalism and excellent customer service are the two things that stand out in our experience. We are so happy we chose J Montgomery!

We used J. Montgomery Designs to help us with our backyard a couple years ago. The design is beautiful and exactly what we had hoped for – classy and beautiful. And we have been glad that we have the extra outdoor space and functionality during COVID. Lots of outdoor/firepit time has been enjoyed.