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

Now, an eight-foot sliding door brings light into the kitchen and enables fluid movement between inside and out. The wider steps can serve as seats during a party, and they make for a graceful transition to the yard.

Jari and Anna furnished their patio and backyard with pieces from their furniture line, Skargaarden.

The Smiths’ new cabin, designed by Risa Boyer Architecture and completed in 2020, sits in the same spot as their previous home, on five acres on Mount Veeder, in Northern California. Somehow, the red chicken coop, which is constructed of wood, survived the fire with the chickens still alive inside.

The backyard sports a sequence of raised flower and vegetable beds and two green roofs—one atop the workshop and other atop the back entrance.

A second green roof is planted with sedum and plays host to one of the family’s favorite spots: a hammock. Bentheim suggested adding a trellis overhead to soften and balance the appearance of the facade.

Garden terrace

In the backyard, Umerani and Fashandi decided to limit the lawn to minimize water consumption.

A white gravel allée leads to Onur and Alix Kece’s weekend retreat an hour outside Paris. The couple, a pair of creatives, oversaw the renovation of the long-neglected 1892 structure themselves, with Onur designing the living spaces and built-ins and Alix responsible for everything else. “We were looking for something that was in bad shape, a place we could completely tear apart and renovate from scratch,” says Onur.

The simple wood deck features innovative cutouts that allow full-grown Yucca trees to peek through.