The creation of Peak House Garden originated from the invitation of the garden owner and Bai ethnic architect Ba Xun to “make the place better.” It is a mountain dwelling design practice undertaken by Z’scape, together with Ba Xun and his team, rooted in the Huoshan area of Dali, Yunnan. The landscape design embraces the core philosophy of “harmony between man and nature” inherent in traditional Chinese gardens, following a path of modern naturalism to explore the intrinsic connections between regional nature and the local Bai culture. Situated at an elevation of 2,710 meters on a plateau mountaintop, the site features steep terrain and benefits from the natural endowment of framing views of Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake. However, it also faces challenges including remoteness and harsh construction conditions. The team use a restrained design language in dialogue with the mountain and seaside wilderness, preserving the native pine forest and old pear trees, allowing the garden to merge seamlessly into nature. Spanning 8,600 square meters of mountain forest with alternating gentle slopes and steep cliffs and a vertical elevation difference of 25 meters, the design superimposes a hidden sanctuary. It embodies the principles of “seeing the grand within the small” and “skillfully borrowing from the surroundings,” accommodating the vastness of nature within a confined space, presenting the garden’s four-season beauty and paying homage to the raw vitality of nature. Simultaneously, it integrates traditional Bai water management wisdom with modern mountain ecological sustainability strategies to construct a resilient highland landscape ecosystem, carrying a spiritual homeland imbued with cultural memory and the warmth of daily life. Peak House Garden pursues a sense of handcraft, rustic simplicity, and raw texture, avoiding overly refined artificial carving. Through low-intervention, minimally intrusive methods, it creates a foundational space that is self-restoring, usable, and continuously growing. The design is akin to tilling the land, sowing a seed that, over time, takes root, grows, and gives back to the soil, sustainably perpetuating the poetic mountain-and-sea spirit of Huoshan’s homeland and the vibrant life of its village, ultimately envisioning an ideal mountain dwelling where humans and nature coexist in harmony.