Outside Ideas

Outside, an entertainer's paradise awaits. The backyard includes multiple lounging areas, a salt-water pool, as well as a detached guest house.

FormLA Landscaping principal Cassy Aoyagi integrates drought-resistant plants into her Southern California projects.

The outdoor space includes a fire pit.

The modern pool house emphasizes indoor/outdoor living. Landscaping was done by Eschenfelder Landscape Design.

The poured concrete foundation is clearly visible when viewing the back of the home.

To ensure continuity, the middle portion of the terrace—including integrated heaters, a ceiling fan, and a fire pit—is covered with a minimal slope roof that Wade Design Architects cleverly hid above a continuous line of structural beams.

The view from Longchamp Outdoor Living's ipe pool deck. Clark Richardson Architects designed the multi-use space to be perfect all year long.

Why build a Passive House? "The obvious answer is low heating and cooling bills, but we find people most appreciate the other benefits, like consistent thermal comfort, sound proofing, and air quality," say the architects.

The second seating area features furniture from All Modern.

Resysta decking surrounds the pool. A second charcoal-colored structure houses equipment, storage, a kitchenette, as well as a covered seating area.

The Pavilion has plenty of cozy seating, a cast concrete fireplace, and a sound system.

The enclosed garden features lovely landscaping and has the feeling of a serene escape.

"The homeowners hoped to transform their lot into a unified, beautiful, indoor-outdoor oasis linking their home, yard, and a new backyard shed in a designed experience where every detail would come together to compose the many smaller sub-spaces into an integrated whole," notes the design firm.

Concrete pavers line the new hardscape, which steps up to a deck built of ipe wood. Ipe wood has also been used for the built-in benches and fencing.

A pair of Icelandic prefab pioneers deliver an efficient family home in Culver City. Building smarter is at the heart of everything designers Tryggvi Thorsteinsson and Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir do. Whether they’re testing the limits of indoor/outdoor living or developing a prefabricated wall system that they hope will make traditional wood framing a thing of the past, the founders of the Santa Monica design studio Minarc are consumed with making structures stronger, lighter, and more efficient.

Backyard Seating & Fire Pit