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Outdoor Hardscapes Walkways Design Photos and Ideas

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.
Paul and Rachel Vanden Bout recently left Virginia to join their son and daughter-in-law—NV Design Architecture principals Tom Vanden Bout and Brenda Nelson—in Oaxaca, Mexico.
A rooftop garden and seating area where the family sometimes gather together or with friends.
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.
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.
A simple, hardscaped back patio is the site of many summer parties. The steps lead down to the firepit, where one feels increasingly embraced by the forest.
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,
A covered breezeway connects the main house and the guest house. Here, Legge took the opportunity to play with perspective, framing part of a tree and the sky with an abstract roof cutout.
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.
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.
On the home's east side, the overhang created by the second story volume shades the front door while still allowing morning light into the bedrooms.
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 courtyard brings natural light into the lower level of the home, which has a den/media room, guest suite/workout area, and storage and mechanical.
The fire pit area displays a 48-inch concrete fire bowl, woven chairs, and upcycled tree stumps for kid-friendly-seating.
Their daughters, Annapurna, left, and Siddartha, play with their dog, Anouck, beneath the kangaroo paws in the entry garden courtyard.
Homeowner Jay Longtin served as the general contractor and performed the majority of the remodel work, aside from the outdoor floors, concrete, and pool, which were done by Architectural Blue.
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 backyard is a protected retreat out of the wind. The team added a balcony off the kitchen at the third floor. It has a ship’s ladder to access the roof deck, in order to service solar panels installed there. The balcony also has a grill for cooking al-fresco. “You gotta be able to go out back and barbecue – this is the beach after all,” says Levy.
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.
The roof deck, anchored by a gas fire pit from Paloform, boasts an incredible view of the water.
Architect and surfer Kenichiro Iwakiri transformed a 40-year-old cottage into his own beach house in Shonan, Japan. This region, located south of Tokyo, is known for its surf spots.
Once you know your climate zone, timing is everything.
The back garden is a perfect metaphor for what the couple hoped to achieve with their project. "We feel a part of the city, but there’s still this sense of privacy," says Ali.
The family enjoys the outdoor lounge.
A concrete walkway connects the living and dining rooms to the exterior, and concrete forms a built-in bench for lounging by the Solo Stove fire pit.
"Even in March and April, on a sunny day, we can open up those doors and eat outside in the sun," says Denise.
Hay outdoor furniture sits underneath the steel pergola.
Photo: Willem-Dirk du Toit
The decorative screen casts playful shadows across the front terrace.
The new front door, offset by a stained wood surround, leads into an entry vestibule that connects the guest wing with the rest of the house.
Now, decorative screens "provide dappled western shade and frame the view of the monumental chimney from the street," says the firm.
New front steps lead up to a front terrace.
The rear of the garage and studio is fitted with a slatted screen, which creates unique shadows on the stairwell and inside the unit. The outdoor room also benefits from views of the lake and is anchored by a two-sided, white brick fireplace.
Before tackling the house, the couple converted the garage into a separate work space with a long, linear window that echoes that in the main house.
The couple planned out all of the exterior landscaping themselves. "[It was] painstaking, the time spent measuring," says Emily.
A small deck and a custom concrete planter complete the seating area off of the main bedroom.
They spent a couple months talking through ideas and sharing inspiration from Pinterest: Chris was looking for a muted, Australian-inspired sense of calm. In addition to a refurbished and more livable space, he requested a study, a guest bedroom and master suite, and a large indoor/outdoor space for grilling.
The Hourglass Corral is a four-bedroom, 3000-square-foot home that derives its tessellated form from the architects’ application of the Voronoi diagram.
The entire property consists of 90,000 square meters, or about 22 acres, on the island of Milos in Greece. Each of the five corrals are defined in the landscape by a white border.
The Pemberton Residence in Austin, Texas, was designed by local firm Alterstudio with inspiration from California modernist design.
The living room opens to the private, walled exterior courtyard at the front. “I really love the design of the courtyard and the fact that you can see it from everywhere in the house,” notes Fox. The ottoman is from Jardan and the outdoor chair is Hay.
“We took some pains to save the tree,” says Humble of the mature cherry tree that was preserved in the redevelopment. “We used it to focus all of our new openings.”
The outdoor living room can accommodate anything from movie night to a morning work session.
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