Chris Jacobson

December 3, 1940 - April 3, 2023

San Francisco Bay Area Landscape designer Chris Jacobson passed away on April 3 while vacationing in Rio de Janiero.

Chris was born in 1940 in Sacramento, California, the son of Carl Walter Jacobson and Phebe Jean Osborne Jacobson. He was the great grandson of Christian P Christensen, who emigrated from Denmark in the late 19th century, settling on a quarter section of railroad land in Placer County in 1884. Growing up in the foothills of Auburn, Chris developed an intimate connection to the landscape of Northern California.

Chris was educated at Emerson College in Pacific Grove, an experimental free college which ultimately moved to San Francisco in 1964 and became the New School. After studies at Sierra College, the University of New Mexico and San Francisco State, he graduated from Sacramento State with a BA in English literature.

In the mid-1960s Chris returned to Auburn and started a commune at a small ranch belonging to his grandmother. He and the members of his commune opened The Yankee Doodle Café in downtown Auburn, serving up all-American fare such as hamburgers, fries and pies. It eventually closed when members of the commune failed to show up for their scheduled shifts and the partner in charge of making deposits never quite made it to the bank.

Chris spent more than 50 years making gardens. He started his landscaping career as the foreman on a family estate in Monte Sereno, guiding the development of the gardens there from the mid-1970s until his death. He traveled several times around the world visiting famous gardens, from Ryoanji in Kyoto to the Taj Mahal.

Chris founded the landscape design firm GardenArt Group in the early 1980s, and was a voice for change in the creation of sustainable, environmentally sensitive landscapes. Through his garden designs, lectures and writing, Chris won recognition as one of the voices shaping the look of today’s western gardens. His work bridged a full range of garden styles while remaining true to the nature of California’s mediterranean climate. Chris’ gardens may be found throughout the San Francisco Bay area, as well as in Cabo San Lucas, Rio de Janiero and Majorca.

In 1999, Chris was invited to redesign the plantings at Sunset Publication’s headquarters in Menlo Park, commemorating the Thomas Church designed garden’s 50th anniversary. A long time advocate of design for a dry climate, Chris was an advisory board member of the Northern California chapter of the Mediterranean Garden society.

His gardens were featured in many magazines including Landscape Architecture, Architectural Digest, Sunset, California Home & Design, Northern California Home & Garden, and Garden Design. Articles from these publications and examples of Chris’ garden designs may be seen at www.gardenartgroup. com

He is survived by sister Nancy Caperon, niece Marsha McAnulty (Ric), great niece Jenna McAnulty (Art Viger), great-great niece Aya Viger, great-nephew Evan McAnulty (Deidra), lifelong friend Nancy Gimblin, and partner Otavio Henrique Macario de Santana.