Garden

In the garden, vines of honeysuckle are intertwined on a steel-mesh trellis.

Despite being located in the middle of the city, the couple’s property is flanked by two private gardens and is in close proximity to the Washington Park Arboretum. Ian and Deb often cook using fresh vegetables from the garden, which is equipped with a PVC irrigation system.

Since spending time in the great outdoors may not be accessible, cultivate your own green spaces at home—whether that be a balcony or your backyard. Check out our guides for propagating houseplants, starting vegetable seeds indoors, or tackling your own victory garden.

“With the two young kids commanding our schedule, we spend a lot of time around the house. Being able to completely open up the back of the house to the outside and back yard makes that time at home much more enjoyable and relaxing and completely takes care of the cabin fever we used to always feel in our old house,” explains David

A section of the facade—a cross between a shoji screen and a barn door—slides open. Planter boxes contain edible varieties that fuel Mary’s culinary explorations.

Tasked with creating a multi-use guest pavilion on a relatively small Northern California vineyard lot that could also host sit down dinners for up to 60 people, designers at Anderson Architects started by asking the key questions: “Where should it be within the property?” “How much floor area do we need for a 60 person dinner?” “How much volume do we need for a basketball court?” “We also always tell ourselves to look at the landscape first, let it dominate and lead it through. The building took the form of a large Napa Valley barn.

This suburban Alsatian home was reworked into a contemporary version by Gens Architects