Cita Avenue by Ecocentrix Landscape Architecture

A multi-tiered hillside landscape in Escondido, San Diego County, where terraced gardens, a pool and spa level, and expansive outdoor living spaces create a cohesive environment for recreation, gathering, and resilience.

Title:: Cita Avenue
Landscape Architect:: Ecocentrix Landscape Architecture
Category:: Residential/; Landscaping
Building style:: Modern
Photographers:: Ecocentrix

The Cita Avenue project transforms a steep half-acre hillside into a multi-generational outdoor environment organized across three primary terraces. The design addresses both the complexity of the terrain and the client’s desire for a flexible and highly functional landscape, organizing land and program through the firm’s site architecture approach.

At the upper level, an art studio and ornamental garden create a quiet retreat anchored by a central fountain. This space provides a contemplative counterpoint to the more active areas below, reinforcing the layered experience of the site.

The middle terrace serves as a transitional zone, incorporating a pool, spa deck, lawn, and an outdoor theater. This level is designed to support both recreation and relaxation, creating a space that is equally suited for family use and larger gatherings.

At the lower terrace, a fully integrated outdoor kitchen, covered dining pavilion, and fireplace lounge establish the primary entertaining environment. These elements extend the interior living space outward, creating a seamless connection between the home and landscape.

The front yard introduces an additional layer of program, including a regulation soccer field, terraced seating, and a reconfigured entry sequence. Throughout the site, planting and drainage strategies are designed for fire resilience and long-term performance. The result is a landscape that balances complexity, usability, and environmental responsiveness.

Services

Landscape Architecture · Site Architecture · Hillside Landscape Design · Pool & Spa Design · OutdoorKitchen Design · Outdoor Living Design · Garden Design

VISIT WEBSITE

Project Gallery

Views and Engagement

Inspired by this project?Visit Ecocentrix Landscape Architecture

VISIT WEBSITE

Professionals used

Ecocentrix Landscape ArchitectureLandscape Architects

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS

•••

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

•••

Ecocentrix Landscape Architecture

Landscape Architects

Santa Monica, Santa Monica, California

ecocentrix.com

Ecocentrix Landscape Architecture. Ecocentrix Landscape Architecture is a Los Angeles-based practice focused on the design of high-end residential landscapes across Southern California, with particular expertise in complex hillside environments. For over two decades, the firm has worked at the intersection of architecture and landscape, shaping outdoor spaces that are both technically resolved and deeply experiential. Our work is grounded in what we refer to as site architecture: a discipline that extends beyond traditional landscape design to organize land, structure, and program as a cohesive whole. Each project is approached as an integrated system, where grading, retaining, circulation, planting, and built elements work together to define a clear spatial framework.Many of our projects involve steep or constrained sites that require careful coordination of engineering, code compliance, and environmental performance. Rather than viewing these conditions as limitations, we treat them as opportunities to create layered environments, including terraced landscapes, elevated decks, and interconnected outdoor rooms that engage both the architecture and the surrounding terrain. The same site architecture thinking shapes our desert-modern work in PalmSprings and the Coachella Valley, where axial planning and indoor-outdoor flow replace terracing as the organizing logic. Outdoor living is central to our work. We design environments that support a range of experiences, from large-scale entertaining to quiet retreat, incorporating elements such as pools, spas, outdoor kitchens, fire features, and garden spaces. These programs are embedded within the structure of the site rather than applied as after thoughts. Garden design is developed with equal attention to long-term performance, resilience, and character. We prioritize drought-tolerant, regionally appropriate species that stabilize slopes, respond to climate conditions, and provide long-term resilience, while also softening architectural forms and introducing texture and seasonal variation. Often leading its projects, Ecocentrix collaborates closely with clients, architects, interior designers, builders, developers, owner’s representatives, and project engineers. This coordinated approach ensures that each project is resolved holistically from early planning through construction, with clarity across all disciplines.The result is a body of work defined by clarity, precision, and a strong connection between built form and natural systems, creating landscapes that are as functional as they are enduring.