Though the fire pit was “kind of an after-thought,” says Hannah, the family uses it year-round. “In the spring and fall, it warms you up on cool nights, and in the summer, it just adds ambience.”

The courtyard with its fire pit and infinity pond—extends the living area outdoors. The family has hosted events, weddings, and even a funeral here, and annual solstice parties are always a big hit with the neighbors.

Taking cues from this home's Japanese-influenced slatted screen, Hufft Projects applied a ring of ipe wood around the perimeter of this outdoor fire pit.

Urth fire pit by Brown Jordan Fires, $1,690 Bioethanol fuel—a semi-renewable resource made from common crops—powers this backyard heat source.

A 2,500-square-foot backyard off a Portland home was completely overhauled by architect Michael Howells. Its new design uses pavers to divide the yard into sections that include planters, a cedar soaking tub, and a fire pit.

Mass Studio completed the renovation of a 1960s house in Brentwood, California, that came complete with a classic midcentury kidney pool. During the renovation, the patio and area around the pool was refreshed with a lounge area, fire pit, and plants.

Handmade Adirondacks from local red cedar gather around the backyard fire pit.

Made of polished integral concrete with a Cor-Ten steel base, a fire pit “becomes very much a unique element that sets itself apart in form and color,” says landscape architect Stefan Thuilot, who designed it.

Haugen/Zohar's salvaged-wood Fireplace for Children, in Trondheim, Norway, serves as a sheltered place for storytelling. Photo by Haugen/Zohar Arkitekter/TASCHEN.

A zigzagging white-gravel path ultimately ends at the final destination: a circular fire pit for conversation.

Linda Taalman and Alan Koch built a home by Joshua Tree National Park, where temperatures can span from 32 degrees to over 100. The two opted for a glass enclosure with raw industrial style and green design that allowed them to live lightly on the land. iT House has floor-to-ceiling windows to take in the landscape, a suspended fireplace by Fire Orb for cold nights, and an abundance of spaces that open up to the outdoors.

Outdoor Kitchen and Fire Pit

Barbara Hill's Dancehall/House in Marfa, Texas September 14, 2010 Misty Keasler

A cantilevered ipe bench hugs a custom board-formed concrete fire pit.

Get Fired Cooper’s yard is small, but she wanted a spot for barbecues and socializing. The fire pit she devised was actually made of construction castoffs—she used leftover ends of framing two-by-fours for forms and poured the small concrete fire pit at the same time as the driveway slab—which means that it was very cheap but still offers a hot spot to relax with guests.

A standing-seam steel roofing panel clads a portion of the exterior, while the aluminum pipes also serve as the railing for the roof deck. The family cooks all their meals at the fire pit outside.

Outdoor Living - The Firepit is wired for a projector to show outdoor movies on the wall

@sfixler: Outdoor spaces... Sighhhh #dwelloutdoor

@gogogroovee: Have you seen the @grooveboxliving #firepit?

The outdoor fire pit.

@afirepoleinthediningroom: Wishing the rain would go away so we could visit our happy place (the courtyard)

A fire pit and garden complete the backyard as a place to relax when not making art.

The Helios Fire Bowl Set from Skagerak is a portable outdoor fireplace that is ideal for a back patio. It can be used as a fire pit, or with the Helios Steel Grille and some charcoal to create an outdoor grill for hotdogs, vegetables, or shish kebabs.

Though Whitlock lives alone, he very much wanted a home built for entertaining. Martini Mondays are de rigeur when he's in town and we're assured they often move out to the backyard fire pit.

In the kitchen of Floating Farmhouse in Eldred, New York, a custom-built wood-fired oven extends up to the ceiling, accentuating its steep pitch. Photo by Mark Mahaney.

A mix of vintage finds and pieces designed by Mathesius, including a Cor-Ten steel fire pit on the second-floor deck, furnish a majority of the home.

The Boo Fire Basket from Skargaarden is made of black lacquered steel. Designed to fit several logs for an outdoor fire, the Boo can also be overturned to hold a candle or lantern.

On the builders' side, Brown Jordan and Ecosmart Fire teamed up on a new fire pit that runs on corn-based ethanol.

The Curved House in Springfield, Missouri, offers a cozy fire pit in an interior courtyard.

The structures share a solar panel, but the families control their own home's heat level with a wood-burning stove.

A sunken conversation pit surrounding a fire pit sits adjacent to the pool in this semi-outdoor space at a home in Atlantic Beach, Florida.

The recessed area in the wooden deck can be used for a fire pit or a vegetable garden.

In the living room, a Nelson bench doubles as a coffee table, and a wood-burning stove from Cleanburn Stoves set in a white brick hearth keeps the space warm.

The roof deck, anchored by a gas fire pit from Paloform, boasts an incredible view of the water.

A glimpse of gravel pit workings.