Flatland Resources, LLC evolved from designing and managing a five-year project in the 1990s to renovate and refurbish Oakhurst Garden, along with many other features on the grounds of the Minnetrista Museum and Gardens, which was once the Ball family compound on the bluff of the White River in Muncie, Indiana.​​​

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Flatland began with a wheelbarrow, a shovel, a pair of Felco pruners, and a 1980 Jeep Wagoneer as a side gig to repay student loan debt.

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The name Flatland reflects the landform where our work takes place. We do not work in the oceans or the mountains.

 

Our work is in the heartland. Our work is within the Mississippi River Basin and the Great Lakes.

 

We learned nature from exploring hardwood forests and open prairies. We learned from adventure and challenges. We learned from ditches, mud puddles, streams, and ponds.  We learned from Midwestern architecture, be it Prairie Style, Sears kit homes, Neoclassical architecture, or the high-rises of Chicago. We experienced the success and demise of industrialization. We know the sound of growing corn. We know a sky that drops 38 inches of rain a year. We know the smell of wet worms after a heavy rain. We know winter is three weeks out when we hear the high-flying sounds of Sandhills in formation migrating south. We know spring is six weeks away when the winter aconite shows its yellow manes. We are rooted in Midwestern urbanism, surrounded by farmland in every direction, and deeply connected to the Jeffersonian grid that has shaped the landscape around us.​

 

We care deeply about community and the communities we serve. We worry about the loss of soil. We are passionate about water in our rivers and streams. ​​​

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​We succeed when our projects create communities where people thrive.

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We strive to be long-term placemakers.

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We strive to transform pace into place.

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We strive to create spatial wonder.

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Our projects in three broadly intertwined categories: