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All Photos/outdoor/landscapes : hardscapes/landscapes : trees

Outdoor Hardscapes Trees Design Photos and Ideas

The new xeriscaped front garden, designed by local landscape studio Colwell Shelor, creates a desert habitat for local fauna and an inviting space for the homeowners to relax in Adirondack chairs by Loll Designs.
A recirculating water feature adds atmosphere to the backyard with its edibles garden, Hay patio set, and outdoor kitchen and dining room, the latter protected from the sun by an extension of the home's eaves.
Architect and homeowner Christopher Alt designed the home's pivoting sun shades with Thermory wood slats and FritzJurgens hardware.
A firepit is surrounded by what the owners think is their biggest splurge: Kalon Rugosa chairs for $11,263.
"Even though everyone we worked with told us that it was OK to go with smaller pants because they grow so quickly, we were still surprised to see just <i>how</i> quickly a lot of the native plants grew,
One of the splurges of the project, two walls of combed Alaskan Yellow Pine backing the patio, provide an interesting visual contrast to the dark Hardie siding. West Elm furniture adds a modern touch.
While Bhavani's older son swims as a sport, the entire family—including Lollipop the Pit Bull mix—loves an afternoon in the pool. The architect and her husband chose gravel and hardscape for the backyard, so they didn't have to constantly water a lawn in the Austin heat.
A covered walkway connects the main house (at left) with a flexible-use ADU. The smaller structure was initially offered to Bhavani's parents, but they opted to live under the same roof as the rest of the family.
The couple worked with Third Nature Studio and Modernscapes to refinish the yard, which now sees lots of family get togethers. "The goal was to make the house and the yard all of a piece,
The renovation added two sliding-glass doors and a new concrete patio.
SHED Architecture + Design helped the owners of this two-acre Silverdale property develop a master plan. It included remodeling the existing 1930s brick house into a two-bedroom guest house for their adult children, then building a second home for themselves (and more guests).
The fixed glass was swapped out for stacking glass doors that open the house to the garden.
The view from the aquaponics vegetable garden toward the wing at the far end containing the living room, master bedroom and roof terrace from bottom to top.
A 1954 home by Calvin Straub is the centerpiece of a San Marino property developed by Alice Fung and Michael Blatt of Fung + Blatt. Working with the architects, Elysian Landscapes oversaw the design of the gardens.
The temple-like house was influenced by Aztec and Mayan architecture, a combination Wright described as "California Romanza."
The kitchen opens to the dining area, with a table and benches from Facebook Marketplace. The firepit chairs are from Polywood. The circular window has a custom exterior copper trim by Mission Iron Works.
Kevin and Katie enjoy happy hour on their new covered patio. The plantings were inspired by the garden in Mexico where they got married. During the pandemic, "We were like, I want to go on vacation, but we can't, so let's just make our backyard a vacation,
Fung and Blatt worked slowly on the project over five years. But it was a rhythm Mary and Carlton appreciated, as it allowed for the design to emerge in close dialogue with the site.
Casa Rumeu was designed by Correa Milá Arquitectes in 1963 for the Rumeu family. While it is within walking distance of the center of Cadaqués, it feels separate, surrounded by olive groves. Part of the remodel entailed creating more garden spaces, "especially within the olive tree plantations, which are an important component of the estate’s overall charm,
"I like that my daughter can come down here to play, and we can also entertain easily,
The family spends much more time together in the rear yard since the renovation.
"Our many ideas were floating around the mountain, and we needed someone to bring them down and turn them into reality,
Another move that reduces the house's environmental impact is the inclusion of photovoltaic panels on the roof. The panels generate enough energy to offset 95% of the house’s consumption.
According to the homeowners, one concession they made to save money was downgrading the exterior retaining wall from a gabion retaining wall to native limestone blocks.
“We had been searching for a pine with the appropriate shape for quite a long time,” says Wakebayashi of the garden’s signature planting. “Then, Mr. Nakamura strongly recommended this special pine tree to us.”
The Cotage
Danny envisioned the space between the ADU and the house as an informal place to gather. "It creates a sort of courtyard sensibility, which works for our intergenerational family dynamics."
The reading nook corridor has a sizeable sliding glass door that pockets into more glass, with thresholds flush between the cork floors on the interior and the large format porcelain tile on the exterior. The center of the atrium is filled with raked 1/8” Desert Gold crushed granite.
<span style="font-family: Theinhardt, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;">Wood adirondack chairs surrounding a stone firepit. </span>
A healthy budget for landscaping allowed Leah to achieve a natural, wild look with plants. “I wanted to look out and see just lush plants growing wild,” she says. The collage of native vegetation was also used to soften the transitions between surface materials and backyard zones.
The house is divided into three sections connected by a series of outdoor galleries. “When I walk from one room to another, I have to go outdoors and feel the weather and nature—rain, cold, and sun,” says Sævik. Instead of emphasizing the expansive panorama of oak, pine, and aspen trees, the house frames select views—a move inspired by Japanese design.
Alloi's design solution for the exterior envelope included exterior rigid insulation to reduce solar heat gain, and recycled newspaper blown-in cellulose insulation at interior and exterior walls, creating an energy efficient and peacefully quiet home.
“The pool house was something I always wanted to build,” Robert says. The bar is the main attraction. And next to it, a lime tree is within reach to make fresh gin and tonics.
The fire pit area displays a 48-inch concrete fire bowl, woven chairs, and upcycled tree stumps for kid-friendly-seating.
Guy (holding Pickles the cat) and Mark transformed the backyard, adding a pool and planting sycamore trees and native grasses. A custom dining table by Angel City Lumber is paired with vintage chairs from Amsterdam Modern.
Taking inspiration from the popular Japanese film <i>My Neighbor Totoro</i>, Sydney firm CplusC Architectural Workshop renovated a four-bedroom family residence to celebrate the importance of human relationships and a connection with the natural world. A rear extension with a spacious, open-plan living area connects to an outdoor deck and landscaped backyard.
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 atrium is a lovely place to sit outside while still being somewhat protected.
Two new structures were also built in the backyard, and connected to the main house via the landscape plan by Lilyvilla Gardens. One is a 485-square-foot guest house, and the other is a 375-square-foot workshop for the owner, who’s a bike builder. They have the same exterior siding as the main house: rough-sawn tongue and groove cedar.
The guesthouse was the first part of the project to be completed, and Mel lived there while the main house was under construction. From his buying the property in 2009 to Sarah completing a roof garden, the entire renovation took roughly 11 years. Around the pool, the lounge chairs are from Restoration Hardware in a Charcoal fabric, and the trailing vine overhead is a California table grape installed by Sarah’s studio. The competition around the Cornilleau 500M Outdoor Crossover ping pong table can be fierce.
The couple is eager to host a party with Diego’s band after the pandemic to take full advantage of the new deck and its amphitheater-like seating.
The trees are planted in a staggered pattern inspired by the sheet music for John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme.”
The expansive, covered patio that extends from the living space features an outdoor kitchen and adjoining pizza oven. “My favorite aspect of the project was that the clients embraced the idea that home can be more than just shelter,” says architect Cavin Costello. “It can be a place that incentivizes you to socialize, think, eat, work, create, and play differently.”
“The intention of the landscape design was to create a tranquil refuge in a vibrant neighborhood for the family to entertain, play, and spend quality time together outdoors,” says the team at The Green Room Landscape Architecture. “The architecture produced multiple lines of sight that penetrate through the home, connecting the front and back yards with similar plant materials, creating a feeling that the house was planted in a scenic Sonoran meadow.”
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.
Three brightly colored balconies and an overhanging roof define the home’s front facade.
The communal courtyard at the front of the complex is a favorite meeting place for the couples’ kids. Underneath a six-foot overhang, concrete planters alternate with custom entryways fabricated on-site from lenga wood.
The owners built the house as a place to gather with their three adult children on Loon Lake, where they had vacationed at the husband’s family home for years. The modern Adirondack chairs are by Loll Designs.
Requirements for licensed contractors depend on the scope of work and the location of the project.
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