Outdoor

The sliding doors open to the marble-paved terrace.

Huge floor-to-ceiling sliding doors flood the space with light, and create a seamless connection to the outdoors.

A custom lid for the hot tub doubles as a deck that can travel all the way to the outdoor shower on a track.

This midcentury gem lays in Crestwood Hills, in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, an endangered enclave of midcentury post-and-beam houses designed by A. Quincy Jones and Whitney R. Smith.

A 22-foot sliding-glass door by Fleetwood opens onto an ipe deck furnished with lounge chairs, a cocktail table, and stools from Room & Board’s Penelope line. The bar is made of concrete and Richlite, a wood-fiber composite used in skateboard ramps.

Sweet’s renovation scheme included recreating the couple’s backyard as a natural extension of their living room.

"The idea behind the building is for a grounded, timber element extending along the Western side of the block, which creates a screen for the rest of the site," Blue says. He specified farmed timber, engineered wood for framing, high levels of insulation, and an evacuated tube solar hot water system to help the house become more green. A layout that facilitates cross ventilation helps reduce the need for air conditioning in the summer.

The cantilevered upper volume shades a deck on the ground floor.

Sliding doors on either side of the living room and along the kitchen open all the way, allowing the breeze from the canyon to spin right through the house.

IKEA chairs join a table from CB2; a Kawneer triple-sliding door opens to the family’s new ipe deck.

The exterior sconces are original to Zaik's 1956 design. JHID rebuilt the rear deck off the living room, which connects to an aggregate patio; the two architectural elements are connected by pathways in variegated bluestone designed by Lilyvilla Gardens.

Speaking to his original design, architect Saul Zaik says, “We were really just building boxes with a bunch of windows but experimenting with how you integrated indoor and outdoor spaces.” The house has seven different openings to the exterior, allowing different courtyard or patio settings for a range of outdoor activities, including seating for a gathering on the street-facing side. The Milfords hired Lilyvilla Gardens for the landscaping around the house, including variegated bluestone steps with thyme joints.

Murren chose maintenance-free materials, such as Stepstone precast concrete pavers for exterior decks and river-rock-covered flat roofs. He recalls his neighbors’ astonishment and delight when “we went from a giant hole in the ground to a two-story house in just four days.”

Sheltered from the harsh Arizona sun, a north patio serves several important functions. It extends the apartment’s footprint, encourages airflow, and provides a private corner for residents to relax away from the city buzz. “Physical connection to the outdoors is paramount in a small space. It’s physically and mentally healthier,” Hall says.

Lara, Ethan, and their baby daughter relax on their back patio, shaded by bamboo. Visit Airbnb's website to learn more about becoming a host.

An important aspect of the home’s design is the seamless flow between inside and outside, which is enhanced not only by large windows and doors, but also by the home’s materials. The majority of the surfaces and structural elements in both the interior and exterior are composed of concrete, stainless steel, and wood, ensuring a unification between the two while guaranteeing durability. Concrete floors require little maintenance, while local wood helps the home blend into its surrounding landscape.

Mark Word Design did the landscaping, with an emphasis on water conservation. "It's about usage levels, but it's also about the way we treat storm water and runoff since it all goes back into our supply at the end of the cycle," designer Sarah Carr says. Word and his team chose plants that help reduce erosion, require little watering, and allow storm water to percolate. Mulch and living ground covers—including Big Blue liriope, marsilea, and Palisades zoysia turf—keep moisture within the soil and lower the temperature of the soil, protecting the roots of the live oak trees.

The clients insisted that none of the trees on the property be disturbed, so Kevin Alter and his team at Alterstudio Architecture built a deck and an overhang around two of them.