Lisa, Outdoor Living Designer / APLD

ARCHITECT OF THE OPEN AIR

For Lisa, the backyard isn’t an afterthought – it’s the best room in the house. Since joining Harrell in 2014, she’s been turning patios and courtyards into destinations for cooking, entertaining, and recharging under an open sky.

Her design sensibility was shaped in rural Fukushima, where she learned how traditional Japanese architecture invites nature in with every season. That philosophy still guides her work, now shaped by California’s year-round outdoor lifestyle.

An award-winning member of the APLD (Association of Professional Landscape Designers), Lisa’s work has been featured on home and garden tours, in publications, and in two books she co-authored: Living with Japanese Gardens and Japan Home. She also shares her expertise at workshops and conferences nationwide.

In her own time, Lisa gravitates to the same things that fuel her work: travel, music, cooking, and entertaining – preferably outdoors.