By Mike Nelson
A dream house with a nightmare yard? Not quite, but when Steffen Nielsen and Helle Rasmussen moved into their Santa Rosa Valley home eight years ago, there was clearly work to be done.
“It was very neglected when we moved in,” said Rasmussen, “but there was potential.”
That potential has been realized, and then some, on the couple’s 1.5-acre property in Camarillo. Utilizing their respective talents — he is an electrical engineer, she a self-taught mosaic artist — Nielsen and Rasmussen have brought what had been a drab, colorless landscape back to life, so much so that it is a featured home on the 2025 Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurses Association Garden Tour, scheduled for May 4.
Many possibilities, much work
Married in 1997 in their native Denmark, Rasmussen and Nielsen moved to the Conejo Valley in 1998 soon after he earned his Ph.D. in engineering. They lived in Newbury Park and raised three children, but found they needed more space for their horses.
They found such a space in the Santa Rosa Valley, specifically a property which lent itself to a myriad of possibilities. And, Rasmussen said with a smile, “a lot of work.”
“There were big native oak trees and redwood trees that were diseased, and we had to get rid of them,” she said. “And the lawn had not been kept up. We tried to make it work, but we couldn’t, so we just replaced it with more drought-tolerant, native plants — front, back and side.”
The colorful front yard garden includes Louis Hamilton desert mallow, salvia (Lamiaceae), California fuchsia (Zauschneria), penstemons (beardtongues), sundrops (Calylophus) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium), many of them perennials that thrive in the Conejo climate.
Winding through this array is a mosaic pathway created by Rasmussen that often draws as much attention as the plant life itself, as do several of her mosaic sculptures. Combined with the inherently peaceful surroundings of the Santa Rosa Valley, the garden inspires among visitors a sense of peace, tranquility and gratitude.
Innovation in back
That feeling extends to the backyard, starting with a free-form swimming pool completed just before the onset of COVID in late 2019.
“The pool is for exercise, although Steffen wanted something super-deep because he likes to jump in,” Rasmussen noted with a chuckle. “And I wanted a mosaic for the bottom of the pool.”
The ocean-themed mosaic turned into quite the process…that nearly became quite the ordeal.
“It took three months for me to make the mosaic,” she recalled, “and we were just a few days from completion of the pool when I was told the glue I’d used for the mosaic was wrong, that the tiles would lift after a few years. Well, I was devastated, because I thought I had used the right glue. My husband said, ‘It’s OK, forget about it,’ but I didn’t want to.”
So the pool completion was postponed several weeks while Rasmussen ordered new tiles and created another mosaic exactly like the first, this time with the right glue.
“It was worth the time and effort,” she said proudly. “And I installed the original mosaic in a little patio in the front yard.”
Adjacent to the pool is a spa large enough to accommodate 12 guests. The spacious patio features an outdoor kitchen and two fireplaces, natural gas and wood-burning. “My kids said they wanted to do s’mores, and a gas fireplace wouldn’t work,” sighed Rasmussen.
There is also a pond with three waterfalls, inspired by Rasmussen’s oldest son who “has always been interested in water life,” and an outdoor shower, “even though I was told, ‘Nobody uses an outdoor shower.’ I said, ‘I do.’ And it is very useful, especially when our dogs get into the mud.”
‘A work in progress’
Adding to the rural atmosphere are an assortment of fruit tress throughout the property, an unexpected bonus.
“We learned after we moved in that our property extended further behind us than we thought,” said Rasmussen. “So we planted orchards — plums, peaches, apples, cherries — as well as avocado trees in front and citrus trees along the fence. And they are finally big enough to enjoy.”
Rasmussen was a jockey in Denmark, and now is the proud owner of two family horses. They live the good life in an open-stall corral. The couple’s friends enjoy coming to this oasis of color and calm that has hosted numerous parties, even a wedding.
Not that the landscape design is complete. “I have to get more native plants,” said Rasmussen, “because the native grasses we have are not doing as well as we’d like. Landscape design and maintenance is always a work in progress — much like life itself.”
And the more creative you can be, the more enjoyable life becomes, mused this former art teacher whose philosophy of teaching meshes perfectly with landscape design.
“I’ve always told people, ‘Be creative in whatever you do, with whatever makes you feel good,’” she said. “Whether it’s preparing a good meal, painting a wall in your house, or planting a garden, you don’t have to be a great artist to create and share something wonderful with others.”
The Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association Garden Tour takes place Sunday, May 4, noon-4 p.m.
Proceeds help provide essential care, comfort, counseling and education to those facing life-limiting illnesses or grieving the loss of a loved one. Tickets are $30; for information, call 800.223.4862 or visit www.lmvna.org/event/garden-tour-2025/
