Keith Williams masterfully fashions flora and fauna for some of the country’s most elegant private residences, but that’s just the half of it. With partner Mario Nievera, he heads up acclaimed landscape architecture firm Nievera Williams Design, with offices in New York and Palm Beach.

Most city dwellers spend a lifetime dreaming of green space. After landing that picturesque plot, they spend the rest of their time fretting over how to make it spectacular. This is where Keith Williams enters the conversation.

He creates deeply personal outdoor spaces that read like biographies sketched with greenery, architectural elements, water, stone, light, ornamentation, color and textured surfaces. Williams has been known to spend time poring over a client’s family photos to find the right inspiration for the garden. For another project, he repurposed a wrought-iron door, transforming it into a coffee table rich with patina for a loggia.

While he has romanced many outdoor spaces and secret gardens, Williams is also a devotee of architecture. His commissions have included historic and landmarked properties, and his gardens and landscape designs resonate with the estates from which they extend, be it a modern penthouse or classical three-story dwelling.

PR: How would you describe your design aesthetic?

KW: Very clean and fresh.

PR: What originally attracted you to landscape design? 

KW: My business partner, Mario Nievera.

PR: Tell us a bit about your background. 

KW: I was born into a design lifestyle. My father was in the ad agency business, and I always admired his graphic design work and wanted to follow his lead. I went to school for graphic design in Kalamazoo, Michigan. My mother is a master gardener. She always tried to make me help out in the gardens, and she took me along with her to nurseries to pick out trees and shrubs.

PR: What have been some of your favorite projects?

KW: The diplomatic answer is all of them. But really, they take on their on personality and all have their own individual interest, whether it’s design challenges, locations, the type of design or the clients themselves.

PR: How do you develop your outdoor design schemes for each client?

KW: It all begins with an initial meeting between clients and the design team. This is when the design develops itself. The architecture and geographic location have a lot to do with the design intent as well.

PR: What questions do you ask your clients upon your first meeting?

KW: Where are you from, what’s your family like and how do you like to live on a daily basis?

PR: Tell us how you like to incorporate art, objects and antiques in your landscape designs? 

KW: I love art, and I especially love it in the garden. I think size and scale are extremely important. You’re less restricted to scale outdoors than indoors, but I feel art should be an unexpected surprise and really create a balance in the landscape.

PR: Do you notice trends in landscape architecture and design? If so, what are some of the directions you’ve observed? And if not, what do you believe are the essentials for classical outdoor living space?

KW: There are always trends in landscape design. Most of the time, I try to stay away from them. Sustainable gardens would be a big and broad trend, but I tend to focus on design elements in the gardens.

PR: Where do you find your best design inspiration?

KW: Traveling, without a doubt!

Thanks, Keith! For great travel tips, read Keith Williams’ Guide to Miami & Palm Beach.