Founder & Lead Designer

Sam Dabney has spent 20 years in the design industry and is also an accomplished artist — two pursuits that continually inspire and reinforce each other.

She has studied under and worked with many innovative designers and artists including Thomas Woltz of NBW, Mikyoung Kim, Michael Blier, Patricia Algara of BASE Landscape Architects, and John Carney and the partners of CLB Architects. She’s contributed in key roles to multiple award-winning projects including Houston’s 1,500-acre Memorial Park and the Tower of Voices at the 9/11 Flight 93 National Memorial while at NBW. (See awards section for a complete list.)

Collaborating with other artists and designers is one of Sam’s passions. She got her first taste at RISD when she landed a job in the art department of Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom”, working with some of the most creative people she’s ever met. Soon after, she joined fellow RISD alumni to design a landscape on the Amalfi Coast for Carol and Sol Lewitt — a leader of conceptual art movement. She enjoys bringing writers, sculptors, and other designers into the creative design process.

Sam was raised in the vast landscapes of Colorado, Texas, and Montana. As an adult with a sense of adventure and curiosity, she has lived in Switzerland, Vermont, Madagascar, Jackson Hole WY, NYC, Dubai, Qatar, Rhode Island, and California. Sam now lives in Charlottesville, Virginia with her daughter and their animals. When not in Virginia, they can often be found hiking and skiing in the mountains around Bozeman, Montana.

EDUCATION:

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), MLA
Middlebury College, BA
Harvard Graduate School of Design, Design Discovery program

Project list below.
To view her artwork, visit www.samanthadabney.com

Studio Director

Mary McCall has spent 15+ years at the intersection of building, design, and landscape architecture. Landscape architecture taps into Mary’s deep love of the outdoors, human connection, and the unbridled joy of physical movement. 

She holds a Masters of Landscape Architecture from the University of Virginia and has worked on award-winning projects ranging from Michelle Obama's White House Kitchen Garden to the restoration of The President's House at Carr's Hill at UVA. Most recently, she spent five years as Senior Designer at Apex Clean Energy, where she became an expert at a particular kind of translation: turning technical complexity into visual clarity. Mary's work is guided by a simple principle — when the material is complex, the design needs to be simple.

Mary takes great joy in building connections — from construction materials to project teams. She thrives in the space between disciplines, building systems and frameworks, always focused on clarity and getting things done. Her motto is "persistence pays," and she knows how to get things done in a variety of settings and all kinds of weather.

Her favorite work of landscape architecture is the Blue Ridge Parkway — 469 miles of continuous movement through space. Mary now lives in Charlottesville with a trio of boys, who keep her moving and outdoors.

Landscape Design Intern

Rebecca Keteltas is a Master of Landscape Architecture candidate at the University of Virginia with a background in environmental studies and psychology. Her work sits at the intersection of ecological systems, community-centered design, and visual storytelling, informed by both academic research and professional practice. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University, where she graduated on the Dean’s List, and studied environmental science and climate change at the University of Melbourne.

Rebecca has professional experience at Horn & Co., where she progressed from team assistant to designer, contributing to schematic design, design development, plant palettes, renderings, and construction documents using AutoCAD, Adobe Creative Suite, SketchUp, and Lumion. Her design approach is complemented by hands-on experience in floral design, event coordination, and agricultural work, all of which inform her sensitivity to materiality, composition, and place.

Her broader interests include environmental justice, public engagement, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Outside of design, Rebecca is a trained vocalist with experience in opera and a cappella performance, bringing a collaborative and performative sensibility to her work.