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“If you’re not at war with your house, land and yard, you’re living in more luxury,” Mcdonald told The Daily Voice on Thursday, referring to such environmentally destructive habits of fighting nature as using pesticides to kill weeds.
But the property of his company's newly constructed 6,000-square-foot house on Coleytown Road in Westport will be purely natural.
That devotion to nature can be seen in the landscape, where Mcdonald eschewed traditional water and labor-intensive designs. Instead, he will plant a special type of grass, whose roots extend six inches into the ground. He plans to seed it a few weeks when the planting season is just right.
But for now, Mcdonald has planted sod to combat erosion, which will help the new grass come in.
During the interview, he sported a black hat embroidered with the image of a tractor. The logo represents Modern Farmer, a magazine dedicated to agriculture and food.
Mcdonald — truly a modern farmer himself — landscaped the Westport property. He continued to pull weeds from the sod every now and then as he talked with the Daily Voice.
He is striving to xeriscape, which means that he plants grass that requires minimal to no watering. Hoses and sprinklers may very well be a thing of the past for the house.
The property’s new lawn will need to be cut only three times a year, he said. In comparison, the average American lawn needs to be cut once a week, he said.
The new lawn will also naturally overpower the crabgrass, so the house’s future occupants will not have to use harmful synthetic fertilizers, he said.
The Newman-Poses Preserve across the street from the property is also teeming with nature and wildlife. The preserve is the only public memorial approved by the family of the late Paul Newman, the actor, philanthropist and businessman who was a fixture in the Westport community.
The preserve was audibly buzzing with life Thursday morning. So will Mcdonald’s property, too.
Once the landscaping is completely done at the Pure House, the lawn will “sound like electricity" because so many creatures will be buzzing over the landscape, he said.
But some of nature’s creatures have already found their new digs at the home. During the interview, Mcdonald pointed to a graceful dragonfly.
“Look at the dragonfly,” he told the Daily Voice, “he’s our friend.”
As it would seem, most of the property’s new residents — dragonflies included — will not be living inside the beautiful new house after all.
For more information on the Pure House, visit the company's website.
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