BOXLEAF DESIGN is an established, award winning, full-service landscape architectural firm. Our high-end residential and commercial work can be seen throughout the Bay Area, from Carmel to Wine Country with select out-of-state projects. Our clients hire us again and again, for our ability to realize the potential of a site, keen eye for proportion, out-of-the-box design perspective, and years of industry experience in bringing work of all sizes, especially highly complex projects, to fruition.
Our process remains focused on the needs and goals of our clients, resulting in INTUITIVE AND TIMELESS GARDENS THAT FUNCTION AS A SEAMLESS EXTENSION OF DAILY LIFE.
P R I N C I P A L S
Sarah Warto is a licensed landscape architect who founded Boxleaf Design, Inc. in 2012. Influenced by her mother and grandmother, fellow landscape designers and passionate botanical enthusiasts, Sarah was exposed at a young age to many aspects of the field; igniting her passion for design and its intersection with the natural world. As a child, school breaks meant visits to her Father’s home country of France; opening her mind to some of Europe’s most honored gardens and estates.
Sarah is a proud New York native who earned her landscape architecture degree from Cornell University in the heart of the stunning Finger Lakes Region. At Cornell she learned how to apply rigorous technical skill to a growing appreciation for innovative and humanistic landscapes. Sarah would explore Cornell's famed arboretum, in great awe and appreciation of the rolling natural topography accented by a fantastic show of seasonal plantings.
Her career began at the international firm of Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, working on large-scale and highly-complex international and national planning and landscape projects. Later moving to the private sector, Sarah, was able to apply her appreciation for historical gardens to creating highly personalized, timeless and contextual spaces.
Sarah is continually seeking insight and creative rejuvenation from the Bay Area's native and diverse environment, in its purest and most rugged form.
Registered Landscape Architect #6347
Steve Warto is Boxleaf Design’s Renaissance man; wearing many hats and ensuring operations run smoothly for our clients and team.
As a proud Bay Area native, Steve spent much of his time exploring Peninsula parks, hiking with his family and assisting his father who works as an arborist. Steve graduated from Cornell University with a degree in landscape architecture and a minor in golf course architecture. He went on to join boutique design firms in the Bay Area and San Diego, specializing in high-end residential, commercial, resort and golf course design.
Steve then followed his undeniable passion for food and wine and co-founded a successful catering company in San Francisco. His experience in establishing the catering business, from the ground up, has proven invaluable for leading operations at Boxleaf Design, Inc.
Steve has the uncanny ability to whip up a homemade pizza with toppings from his vegetable garden, while simultaneously tending to two young daughters, answering emails, processing payroll and organizing the next company outing.
DESIGN
Our aesthetic is clean, unfussy and engaging, yielding in well-proportioned, quietly impactful and restorative landscapes. We seek to leverage the environment as a mechanism for social engagement and personal rejuvenation. The results are timeless landscapes that speak for themselves.
PROCESS
We engage the user from the first encounter, always keeping focused on the needs and goals of our clients as the primary driver of the creative process. Our communication style is distinctively direct and effective. The result of which is a process that is interactive, clear, efficient and exacting. We encourage a forum for meaningful discussion, opportunity for exploration and evidence based design.
SERVICES
Our experienced and licensed team is equipped to take on complex commissions. We provide everything from master planning, site inventory and assessment, schematic design, construction detailing, budgeting, project management, construction administration and vital post-construction follow up. We are UNCOMPROMISING IN OUR ATTENTION TO DETAIL and dedication to the service we provide to our clients.
OUTCOME
Our projects deliver measurable value both economically and environmentally. We are know for being uncompromising in our attention to detail and dedication to the service we provide to our clients. We honor each project we take on with the upmost of respect for the site, earning the trust of its users and yielding in truly one of a kind landscape expression.
