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206 Outdoor Hardscapes Gardens Design Photos And Ideas

Another lush patio area just off the kitchen offers a pergola-topped outdoor kitchen and bar. Other features of the backyard include a fire pit, raised-bed gardens, and matured fruit trees.
Built in 1962, Steel House #4 is one of the seven steel-and-glass prefab homes designed by Wexler and Richard Harrison.
The original limestone walls were cleaned up, and the new design bookends the apartment with courtyard spaces.
Surrounding by palm trees, the backyard features a pool and spa plus multiple spaces for outdoor entertaining. There are also spectacular mountain views.
A fish pond creates a microclimate to help naturally cool the 3,326-square-foot house.
Tech CEO and billionaire Elon Musk just listed the smallest of his four L.A. homes—and it's larger than life.
Eichler’s double A-frame models are rarely available and are highly coveted due to their design and extra square footage. Measuring in at 2,000 square feet—not including the spacious atrium—this model boasts five bedrooms and two full baths. The home also features soaring tongue-and-groove ceilings, expansive glazing, and globe pendant lights throughout.
The home has 1,506 square feet of living space and a beautifully landscaped backyard, which features one of the home's highlights—a detached, 120-square-foot studio designed to match the main house.
The home is centered around a huge center courtyard with a large tiled fountain that was opened up in accordance with the original Cody plan during a recent renovation. On the wall is a custom ceramic piece by artist Stan Bitters, which is excluded from the sale.
For the door that leads off the master bedroom, the architects chose a subtle, contrasting color that worked well with the timber.
Paola Lenti furniture in rich navy and burgundy tones outfit the reimagined backyard, which also features chiseled retaining walls by a local stonemason. Japanese maple trees add to the zen-like atmosphere.
The elongated walkway and porch creates outdoor circulation during the summer months
The original main house.
A dated midcentury dwelling in Santa Barbara is transformed into a bright, airy abode—perfectly suited for contemporary living.
A north-facing courtyard and garden sits between the two concrete pavilions.
The lounge deck at the rear yard of Sunset Hills Residence features a swimming pool surrounded by lush gardens. Architect Hsu McCullough's design beautifully merges minimalism with an abundance of nature.
Carlos Somoza “really brought the project home,” says Brillhart. “With our hope of the architecture being connected to landscape, you need a great landscape architect on-board, and we had that in Carlos.”
The couple tapped landscape designer Carlos Somoza to capture the wildness of the site throughout the landscape plan. This grove of old-growth trees was saved, with new Ipe hardscaping wrapping around them.
An outdoor lounge area is tucked into the juncture made where the new kitchen wing joins with the renovated Trip Russell house.
A view of the new kitchen wing. “We weren’t trying to mimic Russell’s architecture, but we were trying to be sympathetic to the structure and the materiality in our additions and renovations,” says Brillhart.
The pool was relocated and the couple redid its finishes with the Tuttle Pool Company, installing Pebble Tec, a waterfall feature, and surrounding it with modern, large-format pavers.
The kitchen wing now sits in roughly the same area as the pool used to. Says Brillhart: “The one-story wing is CMU block with exposed wood rafters – a similar system to Russell’s but a little more 21st Century.”
The façade received fresh paint, as well as new impact resistant windows. The two-story addition rises behind it. “Given that the two-story wing was larger than the existing structure, it was critical for the new building to appear as lightweight as possible,” says the firm. “The reading of concrete, which is an almost universal residential structural system in South Florida, would have been too heavy against the reading of the low-slung wood roof of the original house.”
In Orange, California, a 1964 Model OC584 Eichler home designed by architect Claude Oakland was recently updated as a four-bedroom, two-bath home with an expanded master bathroom. The central outdoor atrium to the home is typical of the open-plan, indoor-outdoor style of living that Eichler homes are known form.
Natural geothermal springs and lush vegetation are the highlights of this modern Relais & Chateaux property. Designer Ming-Hong Chiu successfully weaves the area’s natural elements into the space to create Beitou’s top sanctuary for relaxation and wellness.
A view of the outdoor swimming pool with a separate spa.
For the most part, the home has been preserved, but selective upgrades and renovations include the bathrooms, which have been outfitted in materials that complement the original design.
The second building contains the main living spaces and accesses the pool. The view from the second floor is framed by the separated gable.
The South Elevation provides complete transparency through the main level to established gardens beyond
The indoor/outdoor connection was important for entertaining as well. The windows and doors can be thrown open, and people can sit close to the kitchen, inside or out, with the raised platform doubling as informal seating.
The backyard has beautiful landscaping, fruit trees, and a spectacular heated pool.
A cozy reading nook on the rooftop.
A natural, stacked-stone fin is the grounding element below the cantilevered bedroom wing.
Hanging and potted plants and a moss floor strike contrast with the apartment's white walls.
The White Room created a grotto-like outdoor space with fountains and lush greenery.
Hammocks stretch across the side patio.
The ghost of the removed roof remains visible at the building's rear patio, where the brick remains exposed below the bedrooms above.
Stone stairs on the perimeter of a main courtyard ascend to a rooftop garden. Large windows on the other side of the living area overlook an enclosed water feature with a statue of a monk.
Water features pepper the gardens throughout.
A roof of horizontal slats filters the harsh light and creates moody shadows.
Gardens surround the stone facade for a softening effect.
Expansive glass doors open onto the main courtyard.
The home's lush surroundings.
An aerial view of the perfectly framed pool.
The beautifully landscaped backyard features a few separate sitting areas—perfect for entertaining and indoor/outdoor living.
The architects tucked courtyards off of all of the main interior spaces. "Courtyards are arranged on different levels, creating a sensation of wholeness and privacy, enabling the homeowners to enjoy both morning and evening sun," says the firm.
The garden, designed by Harrison Green, has a toad chair and a lily pad by François-Xavier Lalanne.
At the terrace, the team replaced or rebuilt brick and concrete as needed. They also stripped and resealed exterior wood elements and incorporated new native landscaping throughout.
The home wraps around a shaded central courtyard with a sparkling swimming pool.
The sense of the outdoors is particularly strong in the central atrium; the space is awash in light and shadow.
A redwood deck, easily accessed from the living areas, is a nice spot for alfresco meals or outdoor hangs, with views overlooking the hills and city lights.
Kranbuehl landscaped the previously forested backyard with a “grass terrace” and masonry walls, so that the exterior felt of a piece with the interiors. Trees and hedges still stand on the perimeter to create natural screening from the neighbors.
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Whether it's a backyard patio, an infinity pool, or a rooftop terrace, these modern outdoor spaces add to the richness of daily life. Escape into nature, or get lost in city views. Wherever you are, let these outdoor photos take you somewhere new with inspirational ideas for yards, gardens, outdoor tubs and showers, patios, porches, and decks.