Collection by Olivia Martin
Inspirational Backyards
Although snow still covers many a garden, spring is rapidly approaching and the plans for lush landscapes are being laid. Here, we pick five homes with great gardens for spring planning (or dreaming). More greens? Check out 10 more outdoor gardens here.
Near the house, Cooper clustered lush, big-leafed plants philodendron, purple heart, and flowering canna. Farther out, vegetable gardens sprout in raised beds, and thyme and mint thrive beneath citrus trees. Native California silver wild rye and matilija poppies bind the slope, bordering the low “snake wall” that winds around the yard, narrowly ducking beneath a big ficus tree with just enough clearance for a sprinting kid. Wide stadium steps connect the garden levels, turning the steep hillside into amphitheater seating.
"It only cost about $48,000 to build, which was incredibly cheap," says Turner of the Stealth Barn. "We got the Timber Frame Company to supply the shell, then we clad it and fitted out the interior and windows ourselves. The idea was to take the archetypal black tar-painted agricultural building and make an almost childlike icon of that."
The exterior view of the Douglas House stepped walkway that extends over the surrounding trees.
Made from wooden pallets, the tree house was a requirement for the kids in this Hawaiian home. Photo by: Linny Morris