The Mariposa House Hospice in Orillia is a 10-bed (5 current and 5 planned) residential hospice set in a forested site, designed to provide dignity and comfort for residents and families. In 2022, a team of volunteers implemented a permaculture landscape design completed by Coolearth that now frames the hospice with a living, regenerative garden. The design uses perennial food plants, fruit trees, berry bushes, and pollinator species to create beauty, resilience, and abundance.
Although only one year old, the plantings are already taking shape: young apple and pear trees line the paths, berry bushes dot the mulched beds, and herbs provide seasonal color and fragrance. As the landscape matures, these guild-based plantings will create sheltered spaces for reflection while also providing food and habitat. Guests and visitors can wander through paved walkways, pause at shaded seating areas, or rest by flowering lilacs and blooming perennials.
Paths and gathering spaces were designed for ease of movement by residents, families, and staff, including those with mobility supports. Built and planted by volunteers, the project has since been embraced and carried forward by the community, who continue to tend and expand the gardens.
Harvests from the gardens are brought into the hospice kitchen and gathering area, where fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables support daily meals and community events. In this way, the permaculture landscape nourishes both body and spirit, connecting residents, families, staff, and volunteers through food, care, and shared experience.
Working with the Civil Engineer, we also designed the landscape to infiltrate all stormwater on-site. Rain from the parking areas and roofs is absorbed and filtered through rain gardens, swales, and detention ponds, preventing runoff, reducing strain on municipal infrastructure, and supporting a thriving habitat for plants and wildlife.
