Pennsylvania blue and lilac dry stone walkway in Devon, PA

Devon 19333

My husband wanted a stone fire pit and patio installed in our back yard, so we visited the Home Show in Oaks, PA in the Spring of 2011 to get some ideas. We approached Devin after seeing his display, specifically because he works in natural stone as opposed to pavers. We were impressed with his display and his portfolio and left our email address with him for followup. We heard from him in less than a week and he came to our home shortly afterwards. Our idea for what we wanted was quite vague, but he nonetheless was able to come up with a lovely design. after a few minor adjustments, we contracted him to perform the work. Devin’s start date was within one day of his estimated start date (one day early!, he was here early in the morning till late in the afternoon, and worked through the hottest, driest July we’ve ever had. We added the sitting walls after he began the project, partly to alleviate a potential drainage issue, and he still managed to finish just a week later than his original estimated end date. Devin combines an artist’s eye, exacting craftsmanship  an incredibly strong work ethic, and a genuine pride in his work to complete a beautiful project. The patio is beyond what we imagined and we’re thoroughly enjoying the fire pit on cool evenings. We plan to have Devin back in the Spring to do additional work. L. McCarthy in Devon, PA

Devon Hardscaping

This was the second time that we hired Devin of Devine Escapes. Last year he designed and installed a gorgeous patio with sitting walls and informal walkways. We were so pleased that we hired him this Spring to replace a long stone and concrete walkway that was crumbling with age. Although we tend to be a bit conservative with projects, we took his advice and replaced the traditional walkway with a dry laid stone walkway which he designed with a subtle vine/river pattern running through it. It’s very beautiful and I can’t imagine why we thought we wanted a traditional walkway! The walk leads from the driveway to the kitchen door, then continues to the patio that he built last year. The walkway is both integrated with the patio and distinctive in its own right through use of similarly sized stone of the same type, but slightly different coloration. We also had him rebuild a sitting area in front of the house, which had been installed several years ago by a well-known local landscaping company, consisting of a pebble base and curved wall. The pebbles never stayed where they were supposed to and the wall was poorly build with generic stone. Devin replaced the pebbles with large slabs of stone and created a branch-like pattern of smooth stones in between the slabs to add interest, and rebuilt the wall using the same type of stone that he used for the patio walls. I am a bird and nature lover and asked Devin if he could design and build a birdbath for me out of stone. He came back with a beautiful original design which I immediately purchased. Future projects that we have in mind for Devin include stone benches and a “focal point” toward the back of our yard in a wooded area. L. McCarthy in Devon, PA

I wrote a blog post about creating the McCarthy Sphere