Fountaingrove — Split Rail Fence

Santa Rosa, CA

A classic two-rail split rail fence running the frontage of a Fountaingrove hillside property. The rails sit in mortised posts — no brackets or visible hardware — and each post is finished with a hand-beveled cap so the top stays dry and the line reads clean from the street. The run follows the grade of the road, stepping down along the curb and turning a full corner at the retaining edge, which is the trick with a hillside development like this one: the rails have to be scribed to the slope so the spacing stays even instead of opening up at the low end. Left open and unstained, the natural wood tones pick up the dry grass and olive trees on the slope behind it, and the sightlines through the fence stay wide.