Greg Hebert got his start in landscape architecture while an undergraduate and graduate student at the University of Colorado. By owning a “design-build” business, he designed residential landscapes in the evening and installed them during the daytime. He worked with a crew of up to four college-age men and a woman who helped install the projects.
When Hebert graduated with a B.A. in Environmental Conservation (’81) and a Master of Landscape Architecture (’85), Denver was in an oil-industry recession and the economy was hurting. Jobless, he seized an opportunity to drive a client’s car from Denver to Coronado, and earned $500 getting here!
That changed everything. San Diego was booming, and Hebert got a job with landscape architects Deweese-Burton in the spring of 1987. He worked as a draftsman on the landscape of Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa in Rancho Santa Fe, learning nearly everything about the resort.His second recession experience happened in 1990–91, this time in San Diego, so he fell back on his college experience.
“I started designing residential landscapes in 1992 out of my house,” he said. “Fortunately, Burton Studio [a spinoff of Deweese-Burton] wanted to concentrate on resort development so they introduced me to the developer and home-owners who were building homes in Rancho Valencia.”
Hebert, 58, is best known for his custom residential design. He believes that the residences at Rancho Valencia resort best exemplify his brand. Homes are designed in early California Rancho style and landscapes created with drought-tolerant plant materials, along with unique decorative tile features (benches, fountains, niches and raised planters), that blend in with the resort.
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https://sandiegodowntownnews.com/local-landscape-architect-rides-the-recessions/
