Our clients had just purchased a new home & were desperate to give the property a much-needed makeover. The backyard was a boring expanse of turf grass & tired plants/trees. The front yard lacked any real “curb-appeal”. The property did boast one very unique characteristic: a courtyard space that was visible from the home’s many rooms. Unfortunately, the previous owners had never really enhanced the courtyard so it was just a large patio filled with concrete that absolutely baked during the summer’s high temperatures. Our clients had a few definite items on their wish-list: a swimming pool, an outdoor kitchen island, a patio, more seating areas, a front yard that would “wow”, & a beautiful solution to that stubborn courtyard space.
We broke down the property into three critical phases: the front yard, the backyard, & the courtyard. We wanted these three spaces to feel connected & be equally strong in the overall design.
In the backyard, we knew we would have a lot of elements to consider. Our clients wanted a swimming pool, an outdoor kitchen island, a pergola, & seating space for entertaining their family & friends. As swimming pool builders with over 30 years of experience, we know it is critical in the design phase to understand specifically what type of pool our clients want & how it’ll fit best in the overall landscape design. Our clients did not want a huge swimming pool. Specifically, they wanted a swimming pool that would accommodate 5-6 people lounging in the summer. They also wanted it to be usable during the winter. They also wanted the swimming pool to be the main water feature of the backyard.
We created a stunning, intimate swimming pool design that shrunk the average pool footprint down but turned the “volume” way up on the overall beauty of the pool design. We focused on creating a lot of bench seating in our new plunge pool design. We also added a heater to keep it warm & usable in the winter. The statement piece of the swimming pool design is a beautiful, cascading fountain feature at the backdrop of the pool. It creates a soothing water fountain that is enjoyed from almost every window of the home. To further elevate the swimming pool design, we opted for natural flagstone coping as opposed to the more traditional concrete pool coping. This gives a rich feel to the perimeter of the swimming pool & gives it a one-of-a-kind look. In order to give our clients more seating throughout the swimming pool & landscape design we added spacious areas of stamped concrete.
Next, we created a beautiful outdoor kitchen island to accommodate a grilling station for outdoor cooking & bar seating for guests. We used a granite slab that matched the slab inside the home to tie the exterior design to the inside of the home. We created a stepped-bar countertop to make it more comfortable for cocktail parties & gatherings. We also created a beautiful custom pergola overhead to give our clients & their guests plenty of shade at the outdoor kitchen island. We also added a synthetic turf putting green to give our client a place to practice his short-game a fun destination for family parties.
In the courtyard we focused on two goals: creating shade & seating within the space. We accomplished this by creating a beautiful, raised planter within the courtyard. We used a rustic, natural veneer stone for the face of the wall & a gorgeous flagstone cap for the top. Next, we craned in a specimen size Chinese Flame tree into the courtyard to give it plenty of shade & make it an inviting destination within the home.
In the front yard, we sought out to create a landscape design that would really set our clients home apart from the rest of the neighborhood. We actually started in the driveway by creating a beautiful wrought iron gate anchored by two statement columns. Next, we did away with the front yard’s tired grass & replaced it with lush, synthetic grass. Our clients loved the stone elements that we had incorporated so much that we added flagstone to the existing walkway to make the steps even more dramatic. Additionally, we completely updated the planting palette of front & rear yards to give our clients a diverse variety of lush, blooming plants/trees/shrubs.
Now our clients not only have an amazing makeover, a stunning swimming pool, & a one-of-a-kind courtyard but they also have all the neighborhood jealous! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!