The Ashbourne Farms project began with the siting of show-jumping and dressage arenas within a working farm in the rolling hills of central Kentucky. Riding arenas or ‘rings’ are large, flat, rectangular areas of sand-based footing, and one of the initial challenges was braiding these elementally geometric forms into the fabric of the site.
A graceful slope, defined by an alee of red maples centers the arenas on a natural saddle in the land; the arenas doing double duty as terraced landforms gradually stepping down and away from the central arrival circle. Working with the subtle grade of the land, the resulting design creates a strong new axis off the existing cluster of historic farm buildings, giving the arenas and equestrian program a prominence among the existing built forms.
Striking dry-stacked limestone walls reinforce the axis, and create a separation between the arrival circle and adjacent spaces – a crushed stone court yard and a gridded bosque of honey locusts that provides dappled shade during sunny days and acts as a sculptural living framework for the space at night. The show barn and locust courtyard create new flexible facilities for a variety of events to support the long-term vision of the farm.
